
THE REFORMED CHURCH OF READINGTON, 

ERECTED 1864-5. 



1719-1894- 

HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 

AND ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED AT THE 

1 75th Anniversary 

OF THE REFORMED CHURCH, 

READI NGTON , N. J. j 
October 17t*i, 




40402 

Press of 

The Unionist-Gazette Association, 
Somerville, N. J. 



Prefatory J^ofe. 



Two things have impelled us to the preparation and publication 
of this little volume. One is the very unanimous expression that 
such a volume ought to be issued which was given by our many 
friends on our anniversary day. The other is the deep conviction 
— a conviction which has grown deeper with each day that has 
succeeded the anniversary — that a considerable amount of material 
was being brought together at this time which would undoubtedly 
be of great value to posterity. Some facts have been ascertained 
which might, a few years hence, be entirely lost. Hence we have 
felt the need of gathering them up at this time in some permanent 
form. We trust that their publication may serve to recall to many 
for a long time to come, the memory of an exceedingly pleasant 
day ; and that, in years to come, those who follow us in this " field 
which the Lord hath blessed " may find this volume a help to 
them in their endeavors to discern the way by which the Lord 
hath long led his people here. One thing especially, we think, 
will add interest to these pages, viz. : the numerous cuts of church 
buildings and pastors which have been brought together and pub- 
lished for the first time. For the drawings of the two earliest 
church buildings we are indebted to one of our church's skillful 
sons, Mr, Ira Voorhees, of Somerville, N. J. The third is the 
workmanship of Mr. Andrew Hageman, now of Illinois. 

With the earnest desire that these pages may serve to enshrine 
"Old Readington" more than ever before in the affectionate 
remembrance of all our children and friends, and also that their 



4 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



record may inspire those who still abide under her shadow to 
renewed consecration of themselves to Zion's grand work, we 
leave them with the public. On behalf of the Consistory. 

B. V. D. Wyckoff, } 

John Fleming, y Committee. 

Solomon Rockafellow. J 



MORNING SESSION. 

Wednesday, October 17, was a day long to be remembered by the 
congregation and friends of the Reformed Church of Readington. 
That day had been selected by this church as the date for the cel- 
ebration of the 175th anniversary of its existence. Fairer skies, 
balmier air, and conditions more delightful in every way it would 
have been impossible to provide. Providence had smiled most 
brightly on their undertaking. Hosts of friends from all directions 
gathered on the church grounds at an early hour, and when the 
time for opening the services arrived every tie-post within reach of 
the sanctuary was taken, and the pews of the capacious edifice 
were full almost to overflowing. The exercises commenced at 
10:30 o'clock. The choir sang an appropriate anthem, after 
which the 103d Psalm was read by the Rev. W. H. De Hart, of 
Raritan, and then an eminently appropriate prayer was offered 
by the Rev. George S. Mott, D. D., of Flemington, who also an- 
no uunced hymn 149. After the singing a historical discourse was 
delivered by the pastor of the church. 

historical Discourse fye l^eO. IS. V. D. WjJckoff. 

Psalm 77, 10, 11 — "I will remember the years of the right hand 
of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord : 
surely I will remember Thy wonders of old." 

I have selected these words as the basis of my discourse this 



6 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



morning because they express exactly the idea that I have had. 
and that I think this people has had. in arranging for this celebra- 
tion. So far as we know. Readington Church has never hitherto 
celebrated an anniversary of this sort. We have thought there- 
fore, that it might be wise for us at this rime to pass in review these 
many years of our church's life and work. Such a review can 
hardly fail to increase our acquaintance with and respect for our 
long and honorable past — while at the same time we trust that it 
may arouse in us new gratitude and a more loving allegiance to 
Him from whose hand these years and their accompanying bless- 
ings have come. 

I may state at the outset that I do not expect to lead you along 
any new and unexplored paths this morning. 

It is not for me to blaze a way through any hitherto untrodden 
wilderness. Many as are our ch 'arch's years, and far back as she 
reaches in her influence over this community and others around it. 
her entire life has been traced out and very accurately set forth 
by at least two writers who had access to all the facts, and whose 
books are procurable by all. 

One of these was the Rev. Dr. Messier, in whose "Historical 
Notes." published in 1873. we have a brief but very complete 
sketch of our past. The other was that beloved son of this 
church, now made 4 "'perfect through sufferings," the Rev. Henry 
P. Thompson, whose "History of Readington Church," issued in 
1882, gives an exhaustive recital of the facts and brings the story 
down almost to the present day. From this you will see that the 
task which falls to my lot to-day is simply to glean from these and 
from whatever other sources may be open to me, that which shall 
suffice to set before your minds with some degree of distinctness, 
for the purposes of the present occasion, these one hundred and 
seventy-five years and their manifold mercies. That purpose will 
be best attained, I think, if I ask your attention to two things: 



READINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



7 



First, the times out of which this church arose ; second, her one 
hundred and seventy-five years of work. First then let us con- 
sider 

I. The Times Out of Which This Church Arose. 

As we are observing our one hundred and seventy-fifth anni- 
versary to-day, it would be entirely natural to suppose that we 
were one hundred and seventy-five years old. In reality, however, 
we consider ourselves somewhat older than that. 

This church is so unfortunate as not to know the precise day, 
or even the year, of her birth. All that we know certainly of her 
earliest history is that the first church edifice, which was begun in 
17 18, was completed and taken possession of in 17 19, one hun- 
dred and seventy-five years ago. That edifice stood on the brow 
of the hill overlooking the junction of the North and South 
branches of the Raritan, almost in front of the present residence 
of John Vosseller. That church was known as the " Church over 
the North Branch," and later as the " Church of the North Branch," 
because of the fact of its overlooking that stream. It remained 
till 1737, when, tradition says, it was destroyed by fire; and when 
the congregation came to rebuild, they moved farther West, and 
reared their new house of worship very nearly on the site of the 
present structure, where, because of its being within the bounds 
of Readington township, it grew later to be known as the "Church 
of Readington." 1 stated that that first edifice was begun in 17 18. 
That, as you see, was one hundred and seventy-^ years ago. It 
is hardly likely that that house would have been erected had there 
not been a congregation previously organized. Hence it is clear 
that our congregation must date back at least to 17 18, and we 
cannot be sure that it did not exist even a year or two earlier. 
Dr. Messier, who carefully reviewed all the facts in the case, gave 
it as his opinion that there certainly was a church organization 
here in 17 18, and that it was altogether likely that it began earlier, 



8 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



possibly even as early as 17 15. Hence we have ground for saying 
that we feel sure we are one hundred and seventy-^ years old, 
we suspect we may be one hundred and seven ty-seven, and it 
would not surprise us very much if — were all the facts known — 
we should be found to be even one hundred and seventy-eig/it or 
nine. I would like now to set before you briefly the conditions 
amid which this church had its birth. First, let us glance at 

1. The temporal surroundings of that newly -organized congre- 
gation. 

The first settlers came to this region about 1700. Less than 
twenty years, then, before the rearing of that " Church over the 
North Branch " the entire country about it was a wilderness. 

Historians tell us that it was everywhere covered with dense 
forests. Through these there were no roads. The only openings 
that could be found anywhere were a few natural clearings in the 
lowlands along the rivers. These were cultivated somewhat by 
the savages, and so it came to pass that there was a trail from one 
patch to another, along the North bank of the Raritan, from the 
site of the present city of New Brunswick, to Bound Brook and 
Somerville, and so on to the head-waters of the river. That trail 
was the only road the first settler here had to the outer world, save 
as he put his flat-boat on the waters of the Raritan, and allowed it 
to float downward with the current. Then, when he had dis- 
charged his cargo and wished to return home, he had to tow it 
laboriously all the way up-stream. To show you further the wild- 
ness of this country at that time, I may say that the History of 
Hunterdon County tells us that there was in those days an Indian 
settlement near the site of the present village of Centreville, and 
that when these Indians disposed of the principal part of their 
domains to the whites a few years later, they still reserved some 
land for themselves. That land now constitutes the farms owned 
by Backer Hoagland and John S. Craig, situated about two miles 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH 



9 



Southwest of this church. It is difficult to conceive that we live 
so near to primeval times, is it not ? Or rather, it is difficult to 
conceive that this church, which still seems so youthful and vigor- 
ous, has a life behind her which goes back so far into the past. 
But, from these temporal conditions let us turn to a survey of those 
that were spiritual. 

2. Spiritual surroundings. 

Until two days ago I had it in mind to state that I believed that 
that first church at the headwaters of the Raritan was the first dis- 
tinctive house of worship erected anywhere in this region — in fact, 
anywhere between the old church at Three Mile Run, and the 
Delaware River. I do not mean by this that I thought it to be 
the oldest church organization. There were two church organiza- 
tions in this territory before ours was established, viz. : The 
Church of Raritan (now First, Somerville), organized in 1699, 
and the Presbyterian Church of Bound Brook, organized in 1700. 
But though the dates of these organizations preceded ours, I 
failed to find that either of these congregations possessed a church 
building until several years after ours had been reared. 

Dr. Messier says that the Raritan Church built its first edifice 
in 172 1, and the "History of Somerset County" informs us that the 
one at Bound Brook was erected in 1725. From which facts it 
would appear as if until these dates, both of these congregations 
had been content to worship in convenient barns or other tem- 
porary quarters. 

That would have made our first church building, for a number 
of years, the only thing of its kind in the greater part of this wide 
region that is now known to us as Somerset and Hunterdon coun- 
ties. Two days ago, however, I was informed by the pastor of 
the First Church of Somerville that I must make cautious use of 
this statement, inasmuch as very recently it had been brought to 
his notice that there existed somewhere an ancient document, 



: o 



ANNIVERSARY EXEECISE8 



which, if it could only be secured and verified, might prove con- 
clusively that the Church of Raritan had a "new church" as early 
as 1709. I trust that document may be found, and also that its 
records, when examined, may fully establish this very important 
fact. I am sure no one could rejoice more heartily than the 
daughter over the knowledge that her honored mother had been 
well housed and fully established ten years earlier than herself, es- 
pecially as in this case the daughter would still have had a suffi- 
ciently wide field left her, a field that reached all the way from 
Roysfield to the Delaware river, and included some of Somerset 
and the whole of Hunterdon County. And then we must recol- 
lect how great a need that church supplied. The life of those 
early settlers must have been an extremely hard, toilsome one, af- 
fording scant time for the cultivation of religion except as it was 
determinedly snatched from the midst of most pressing duties. 
Morality was in a low state the world over. Infidelity had cast its 
blight over the fair lands of Europe, and its advocates were not 
slow in speeding its progress in these new lands beyond the sea. 
The Hollanders who came to this section were constitutionally far 
more religious than many of the emigrants of that day, but yet 
they were far from perfect. Above all else church privileges and 
ordinances had been up to this time about the scarcest things that 
could be found in all these parts. 

About twice a year previous to 1720, good old Domine Ber- 
tholf. the pastor of all northern New Jersey and a considerable 
portion of New York, had made it his duty to visit this region, 
preach and administer the sacraments, and thus semi-annually had 
sought to blow the coals of spiritual life that he found here into 
renewed warmth. Those were the only spiritual advantages our 
forefathers in this region enjoyed up to the time of the founding of 
this church and the arrival of its first pastor in 1720. Can we 
Dot conceive somewhat of the joy that must have filled their 



KEADINGTON EEFOKMED CHURCH. 



1j 



hearts at the sight of the laying of its foundation stones? And 
when its completion was announced must there not have been a 
felt if not expressed cry of "Grace, grace unto it." 

But we have dealt at sufficient length upon the beginnings. 
Let us turn our thoughts next to 

II. The One Hundred and Seventy-five Years of Work 
That Have Passed Since Then. 

These years may, I think, be divided into two periods, the first 
of which is that of collegiate relationship with other churches, 
and the second that of independent organization. The former of 
these reaches from the date of the coming of the first pastor, in 
1720, to the separation from the church of Bedminster, in 1800. 
These eighty years saw four full pastorates, and a portion of the 
fifth. The first of these pastors was that father of evangelical 
religion in these regions, the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Freling- 
huysen. He served Three Mile Run, (now First, New Brunswick, 
or Franklin Park), and Raritan, (First, Somerville), in connection 
with this church. His labors in this wide field must have been 
exceedingly arduous, but for twenty-seven years he continued them 
unceasingly. He met with bitterest opposition because he was so 
stern and uncompromising in his treatment of the sins of his day. 
But he kept fearlessly on his way, doing his divine work of giving 
utterance to the whole truth, whether men would hear, or whether 
they would forbear. The result proved his wisdom. Toward the 
close of his life he enjoyed greater quietness. Men came to 
appreciate better, no doubt, the solidity and permanence of his 
work ; and to realize the advantage of building up the church on 
the grand foundations that he had so laboriously laid. During his 
pastorate, in the year 1737, the old log church overlooking the 
river burned, and the next year the second edifice was reared near 
where we are sitting, at the Southwest corner of our present 



12 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



church-yard, just back of the old locust trees that were removed 
a few years ago. That church was of somewhat peculiar con- 
struction. It was almost square, the longer side being the front 
and facing the road, while the roof slanted to the front and rear 
instead of to the sides. A drawing of this building may be seen 
yonder in the rear of the church, while a plan of its galleries, 
showing the position of the lofty pulpit at the rear of the house, 
may be seen in our ancient volume of minutes, where it was prob- 
ably placed long years ago by some careful church Treasurer, and 
has remained ever since, being handed down from generation to 
generation with the most scrupulous care. It was my exceeding 
privilege, a few days ago, to stand beside the little plot in the old 
cemetery at Three Mile Run where lie the remains of Mr. Fre- 
linghuysen. 

Until a few years ago that spot was practically unmarked, and 
almost unknown. Now, however, by the timely and eminently 
appropriate act of some of those who bear his honored name, a 
plain but stately granite stone stands at the head of the narrow 
mound, precisely such a stone as one feels should mark the spot 
where rests one whose life was so strong and brave and enduring. 
I give herewith the simple but expressive inscription which that 
stone bears : 

" Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Born at Lingen, 
East Friesland, in 169 1. In 17 19 he was sent to take charge of 
the Reformed Churches here by the Classis of Amsterdam. He 
was a learned man, and a successful preacher. The field of his 
labors still bears fruit. He contended for a spiritual religion. 
* l His motto was, 1 Laudem non quaero, Culpam non timeo.'* 
He died in 1747, and his descendants, humbly sharing in his faith, 
have erected to his memory this monument." 

Following the elder Frelinghuysen came his son John, whose 

*" I seek not praise. I fear not blame. " 



KEADINGTON KEFOKMED CHUKCH 



pastorate was brief, reaching from 1750 to 1754. He was of a 
milder spirit than his father, and yet he was by no means lacking 
in either depth of conviction or firmness of character. During his 
pastorate the entire church was rent well nigh asunder by a furious 
struggle between the two parties that had been gradually forming 
in it, viz.: those desirous of forming an American Church, and 
those who were content to remain under the guidance of the 
mother Church in Holland. In this struggle John Frelinghuy- 
sen gave promise of being a principal leader and pacificator. 

As it was he did much to bring peace to his beloved Zion, but 
ere he could accomplish all that it was his desire to do, he was un- 
expectedly removed by death. With his decease our connection 
with the Three-Mile Run Church ceased, that church deciding 
thenceforth to call a pastor of its own. Several years elapsed be- 
fore Mr. Frelinghuy sen's successor was found. 

It was 1758 before the next pastor was settled. This was Jacob 
Rutzen Hardenberg, one of John Frelinghuysen's theological pu- 
pils, who also soon after married his widow and later occupied his 
house at Raritan, and so became in the fullest sense his successor. 
His pastorate covered the period of the War of Independence, 
which was a most trying time for religious effort. 

Many churches in different parts of the land were compelled to 
cease their work altogether during these years. Dr. Harden- 
berg's field fared better than that, and yet evidences are not lack- 
ing that prove how greatly his work was hindered. One such evi- 
dence is the fact that this church possesses no records whatever 
of this pastorate. Our historians, when seeking light on the 
events of this period, have been compelled to resort to the records 
of the mother church m Somerville. One event of this time that 
is worthy of note was the removal of Queen's College for several 
years from the town of New Brunswick to the forks of the Rari- 
tan, byreasou of the exigencies of war. For sometime the college 



14 



ANNIVERSARY EXEECISES 



was sheltered here, continuing its work in the house formerly oc- 
cupying the site of the present abode of John Vosseller. Another 
item of interest was the separation from the churches of Millstone 
and Neshanic in 1761, and from Raritan in 1781, the latter being 
the date of Mr. Hardenberg's removal to another field of labor. 
Two years after his departure Simeon Van Artsdaelen, a young 
man. became pastor here. His sendee, like that of John Freling- 
huysen, was very brief, being terminated also like his by death, in 
1786, after having wrought among this people only three years. 

We can conceive that his death was viewed by his people as 
little less than a calamity, for he was a peculiarly lovable and elo- 
quent man, devotedly attached to his work and people. During 
his short pastorate he received numerous and very flattering calls 
from other churches, but could not be induced to resign his work 
here. His grave is in our church-yard, with his wife's beside it, 
the first of the many that have since been occupied by ministers 
of the gospel who have had to do with this church. 

The next pastorate was an epochal one. The Rev. Peter Stud- 
diford came here in 1786, and remained forty 7 years. For fourteen 
years he served Bedminster in connection with this church. Then, 
in 1800, that church withdrew. Thus Readington was left at last 
alone, and from this date commences her independent organiza- 
tion. But though alone, her field was by no means narrow. Dr. 
Studdiford lived near South Branch, on the farm now owned by 
his kinsman of the same name, Peter Studdiford, and his parish 
extended from Roysfield to the head of the Round Valley, and 
from the North Branch and Rockaway to Rowland's Mill and 
Mettler's Mill, on the South Branch. It was a wide field, requir- 
ing a vast amount of pastoral labor. Dr. Studdiford was lame, 
having had his knee injured by a musket in the hands of a British 
soldier, when he was a boy in New York, yet he faithfully served 
this people for forty years. When I came here, ten years ago, I 



READINGTON KEFOEMED CHIJECH. 



15 



heard some of our older people tell how clearly they could recol- 
lect the Doctor's horse and gig, with which he travelled every- 
where, over rough and half-broken roads, and in and out of the 
almost unending lanes with their innumerable bars. 

But besides being a thorough pastor, Dr. Studdiford was dis- 
tinguished as a man of remarkable pulpit power, especially when 
called to speak impromptu. One who knew him well said that he 
was " one of the most efficient ministers of his day." It is pleas- 
ant to think that his work descended to his son, and then to his 
son's sons, one of whom, the Rev. Dr. Samuel M. Studdiford, still 
remains, proclaiming Christ most acceptably in the city of Tren- 
ton. During this pastorate two churches were organized from this 
one in some part, that of Rockaway being established in 1792, 
and that of North Branch in 1825, only one year before Dr. Stud- 
diford' s death. 

And now we come to the pastorate which, all things being con- 
sidered, may be called the most remarkable of all those that our 
church has enjoyed. It was that of the Rev. John Van Liew, 
who occupied this pulpit from 1827, to 1869, a period of more 
than forty-two years. Long as was the preceding pastorate, this 
exceeded it by more than two years. Moreover, it was remark- 
able in other respects. During Dr. Van Liew's time of service 
the church grew greatly. Population increased rapidly, and the 
resources of the people were greatly multiplied. Readington 
became widely known as a prosperous farming community, and in 
this prosperity the church shared. Two church edifices were 
erected under Dr. Van Liew's ministry. The first of these was 
built in 1833, only a few years after the commencement of his 
labors. The old church had stood through ninety-five years, hav- 
ing been repaired but once, about forty years before. 

Besides it is probable that the growth of the congregation neces- 
sitated an enlarged building for their accommodation. The church 



16 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



which was erected at that time was placed on the spot occupied 
by the present building, the change of location adding somewhat 
to the stateliness of the structure, and also enlarging somewhat 
the church grounds. That church was destroyed by fire March 
22, 1864,* after which the present edifice was erected. This 
building was dedicated July 20, 1865. A full account of the 
dedicatory services may be found in the " History of Readington 
Church," pp. 20-25. B ut in other than material things Dr. Van 
Liew's long pastorate was remarkable. As a preacher he was 
plain, practical and instructive. Were I to be compelled to char- 
acterize his pulpit work by a single word, I do not know that I 
could select a better one than this last — instructive. 

He strove with all his power to mould into the very image of 
Christ this large household that God had entrusted to his care. 
But while he recognized faithful preaching as the first requisite to 
this end, he at the same time realized the tremendous influence of 
a godly life. And such a life he lived in the midst of this people 
year after year. Of him it may most truly be said : 

" The lore of Christ and His Apostles twelve 
He taught, but first he followed them himselve. ' ' 

And it is remarkable how deeply that life was impressed upon 
those who were reared under its influence. 

Those were days of strong, spiritually-minded, and influential 
men and women. The pictures of some of them hang yonder at 
the rear of the church. Those who have been absent from these 
scenes for any time, and who have returned to enjoy the festivities 
of this joyous day with us, may take pleasure m looking once more 
upon these faces. One there is among them, of which we cannot 
help saying that we know that it would have afforded its owner 
the greatest pleasure to have been permitted to see this day, and 



"*March 24, some say. 




REV. PETER STUDDIFORD, 

FIFTH PASTOR. 1786-1826. 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



17 



share with us its enjoyments. Judge Thompson's life was one 
which was most closely identified with the life of this church. We 
know that he would have delighted in this Anniversary. 

But he had " served his generation " long and well, and the time 
for his departure had fully come. Nearly a year ago he " breathed 
his spirit forth, and fell in his Redeemer's arms asleep." Others 
there were, besides Judge Thompson, who wrought here, and 
became veritable pillars in this house of God. And not a few had 
their lots cast elsewhere, but wherever they went, they at once 
became prominent in every good word and work. 

In them Dr. Van Liew's light still shines in many places. I am 
glad indeed that through the thoughtful generosity of his 
children, this grand man is to live anew in the midst of this 
community throughout the years to come by means of the beauti- 
ful tablet to his memory which it will soon be our privilege to see 
unveiled. 

I might add as I conclude this portion of my narrative that four 
churches were organized during this pastorate, all of which drew 
their first strength very largely from Readington. They were, of 
Reformed churches — Stanton (1833), South Branch (1850) and 
Three Bridges (1872). And there was one Methodist church, 
that of Centreville, organized in 1869. 

The rest of my story might perhaps be called modern history. 
It deals with events that are so recent and people who are so well 
known that I do not feel called upon in the least to undertake 
their advocacy. 

The Rev. John G. Van Slyke followed Dr. Van Liew in 1869. 
It had been our expectation that he would be here today to recall 
some of the events of his pastorate, but at the last moment a tel- 
egram came announcing his detention by reason of the death of a 
near relative. 

Dr. Van Slyke did not remain here very long, but suffered him- 
2 



18 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



self to be enticed away the next year by a sister church, which 
had grown envious of Readington's prosperity and happiness under 
his leadership. He was here long enough though to greatly en- 
dear himself to many hearts and to establish for himself a wide 
reputation as an able and scholarly preacher ; to prove also his 
helpful, healthful influence over the throngs of young people who 
then filled this church. 

He was succeeded in 1871 by the Rev. John H. Smock, whose 
term of service, as you well know, was twelve and a half years. 
Mr. Smock was known not only in this community, but also in 
others on every side of it as a good preacher, a genial companion 
and a man of commanding influence in the defense of right. He 
was deservedly popular with all classes, but especially, I think, 
with the young. It is a matter of great regret to us that he is un- 
able to be here to-day. A prior engagement, coupled with the 
precarious condition of his health, made his presence impossible. 

We may be sure his heart is here, though his bodily presence is 
sadly missed from our company. Mr. Smock resigned this charge 
in October, 1883, and removed to Glen Head, L. I., where he 
still resides and continues his ministerial work. In April, 1884, 
the present pastor was installed, and he has sought to fill this 
place and perform its varied work ever since. All that he has to 
say for himself is that he has found the parsonage on the hill a 
very pleasant home, and the work that has come to him as its oc- 
cupant a most delightful one in every respect. God has given us 
the utmost harmony in our work of these almost eleven years. 
He has also visited us richly with his grace. Thirty-two com- 
munion seasons have passed in that time, and but one of them 
has left no new names enrolled upon our church book. The total 
of communicants received in that time is 245, of which 152 came 
by confession of faith and 93 by certificates from other churches. 

"The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." 



EEADINGTON KEFOEMED CHUECH. 



19 



And now in conclusion, how difficult it is to survey the past as 
we have done this morning — so long a past, and one fraught with 
so great significance — without feeling a longing to be able to pro- 
ject one's vision onward into the future. Fifty, a hundred, a hun- 
dred and fifty, a hundred and seventy-five years of the past have 
swiftly passed before us. 

The good deeds wrought, and the people who wrought them, 
have risen before us to be studied anew. We have found them 
interesting indeed. The Frelinghuysens, Hardenberg, Van Arts- 
daelen, Studdiford, and Van Liew, these all have lived and 
wrought and died, and of every one of them it may be said " their 
works do follow them." 

But what of the years to come ? 

Fifty, a hundred, a hundred and seventy-five years from now, 
what shall the remainder of this story be ? 

The Scriptures tell us that there is one thing that ever remains. 
Men may die, the most enduring structures may crumble and fall, 
the purest renown even may pass out of earthly recollection, but 
the " word of God abideth forever." That word has been, we 
know, the essential thing in this church's past. We hold it as the 
essential thing to-day. We believe that it will ever be thus. And 
so it will come to pass that as that word goes on to its ever-increas- 
ing triumphs, this old and dearly-loved church will continually 
renew her youth, repeat her anniversary occasions, attract to her- 
self larger and still larger renown, until at the last she shall be 
permitted to see the bright dawning of that day beautiful which 
her faithful career shall have done much to advance. 

" 'Tis coming up the steps of time 

And this old world is growing brighter ; 
We may not see that dawn sublime, 

Yet high hopes make the heart throb lighter ; 
We may be sleeping in the ground, 

When it awakes the world in wonder ; 



20 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



But we have felt it gathering round, 

And heard its voice in living thunder. 
'Tis coming ! Yes, 'tis coming ! " 

At the conclusion of the discourse the Rev. James Le Fevre r 
D.D., of Middlebush, announced hymn 249, which was heartily 
sung. It had been expected that the Rev. J. G. Van Slyke, 
D.D., of Kingston, N. Y., pastor of the church from 1869 to 
1870, would next address the audience, but a telegram having 
been received announcing his inability to be present, the next 
thing on the programme was the presentation to the church, 
by the Hon. Jacob F. Randolph, on behalf of the family of the 
Rev. John Van Liew, D.D., of a tablet to their father's memroy. 

presentation ^Address ffye ftor\. <£jacob p. I^andolpl?. 

A very pleasing part of the service this morning has been as- 
signed to me. It is to communicate to you, the officers and mem- 
bers of this church and congregation, that the children of Dr. Van 
Liew — his two sons and one daughter — who are here to-day, 
mindful of their childhood and youth so happily spent here m your 
midst, and not forgetting the very many kindnesses received from 
all the members of the congregation and remembering the earnest 
zeal of their father in his work as pastor of this church, desire to 
present to you the tablet yonder upon the wall, and to ask your 
acceptance of it. They do not present it for its pecuniary value 
for that is only a trifle, neither for its beauty, for we see what has 
more beauty every day. 

Upon the tablet is written: 

In Memory of 
Rev. John Van Liew, D. D. 
Born 1798. Died 1869. 
Pastor, 1827-1869. 




REV. JOHN VAN LIEW, D. D., 

SIXTH PASTOR, 1827-1869. 



EEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



21 



Which records the long years of active service for the Master, 
and we trust the passerby, as he reads the inscription, may be re- 
minded of a well ordered Christian life, and be led thereby heav- 
enward. 

It is just a quarter of a century to -morrow since Dr. Van Liew 
was called away, and his end was peace. 

In yonder cemetery his mortal remains are buried, awaiting the 
resurrection of the just. The plot, with its strong iron enclosure, 
and the beautiful monument upon it, are a tribute of his love and 
loving parishioners of this church. 

A part of the inscription upon the monument is : 

' ' Irving, we loved him ; 
Dead, we revere him. 
Glorified, we shall meet him 
In the heavenly world." 

In the heavenly world ! The heavenly world ! It is no flight of 
fancy; it is our own faith, which oversteps the grave and sees him 
there, watching with earnest eye one and another and another 
and still another and another of his parishioners here as they enter 
there, sealed with the testimony of this earthly Zion, that " this 
man was born in her," thus adding another and another and still 
another " Star to his crown of rejoicing." 

At the conclusion of Mr. Randolph's address the tablet was 
unveiled by the Rev. Elias W. Thompson. It is a neat slab of 
the finest Italian marble, 18-30 inches in size, the inscription 
being in letters of gold. It is placed on the wall to the left of the 
pulpit, nearly over the pew occupied by the elders of the church. 

In receiving the gift for the church the pastor responded with a 
few words of heartfelt gratitude to those who had so thoughtfully 
and lovingly sought to perpetuate in this sacred spot the memory 
of one to whom this community owed so much. At the conclu- 
sion of his remarks the Rev. E. W. Thompson made an announce- 



22 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



ment of the long list of relics and antiquities which had been 
brought together for this occasion, and were on exhibition at the 
front of the church ; and invited all who were interested in such 
things to inspect them at their leisure during the day. (For a list 
of these things, see Note, at the end of this volume). 

In the roomy basement beneath the church five long tables, 
capable of seating 238 persons at once, had been prepared. 
Thither the guests were invited and asked to partake of the bounty 
of the church. These tables were filled four times. Hence it is 
safe to say that 850 persons in all had the needs of the inner man 
supplied. Much pleasure was realized in the reunion of friends 
long-separated, and the two hours of intermission passed almost 
ere the people were aware of its flight. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 

At 2:30 o'clock the congregation again assembled. The audience 
room was so crowded at that time that the aisles were filled with 
benches, and still many had to stand. The exercises were opened 
with the singing of an anthem by the choir, after which prayer 
was offered by the Rev. E. G. Read, of Somerville, and hymn 20, 
was announced by the Rev. J. B. Drury, D.D., editor of the 
" Christian Intelligencer." Addresses were next delivered by the 
pastors of the five churches once collegiate with this. : First, 
Raritan ; First, New Brunswick ; Millstone ; Neshanic and Bed- 
minster. These addresses are here published in the order in 
which they were delivered. 

Address ffye 1^0. 09m. StocKfon ^ranmer 1 . 

I am reminded before I begin that I must be brief. Not only 
does the pastor of the church delicately hint that of making many 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



_-3 



words there must sometime be an end; but the very program it- 
self, with its wealth of promise for the afternoon and evening, as 
well as the smiling presence of the pastors of many other churches 
anxious in their turn to greet you, urge me to waive the minister- 
ial privilege of speaking for a full half hour. 

For these are not the good old times when the all-day session 
was the regular, not the special order — when, between the morn- 
ing and afternoon service the people assembled, not in the base- 
ment of the church for a railroad luncheon, but under the shelter 
of the white-topped farm wagons for the more leisurely if not more 
substantial fare. And when, polemics and dogmatics having been 
generously treated of while the sands in the pulpit hour-glass had 
slowly slidden through, the preacher would certainly turn it over 
again and invite the congregation to have another glass. " Dom- 
ine," said a long suffering elder the other day, "I wish you would 
preach shorter sermons." " Shorter sermons ! Why, I feel that I 
ought to give the people the sincere milk of the Word." " That's 
all right," said the elder — " the sincere milk of the Word, but 
these are the days of condensed milk." 

Which is only another way of reaffirming that the good old days 
are gone. No more the toilsome assembling of the heavy farm 
wagons with their loads of coatless men and barefoot children ; no 
more the stands out there on the church-green where the slaves 
sold malt beer, crullers and gingerbread ; no more the stately and 
solemn entrance of Frelinghuysen, prince of pioneers, or of Har- 
denberg with the juvrouw on his arm, while the congregation 
waited standing until the good man had ascended to the pulpit 
and looked down benignantly upon them. 

There were giants in those days — men of robust, sinewy faith, 
of sober speech and earnest life and religious convictions, intense 
and burning. 

But that is not to say that those of these days are degenerate, 



24 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



and that the sons are unworthy of their sires. True we cannot 
still detect the wiles of the devil by the cut of a coat, nor hear the 
lures of the evil one in the scraping of a nddle ; but one has only 
to listen to such speech as we heard this morning to know that the 
succession is safe : one needs only to remember that for 175 years 
the call to repentance has sounded from this pulpit, and that the 
fruitage of six generations of church going is to be found in those 
godly men and women of this day who are the living incarnation 
of pious ancestral influence. Here flows still the milk and honey 
of the Gospel. Here the grapes of Eschol still ripen for the faith- 
ful and the brave. The land so laboriously won by the fathers is 
transmitted to you improved and enlarged, with opportunities and 
responsibilities correspondingly enlarged. That you stand ready 
to assume these responsibilities, anxious and able to do for the 
future what the past has done for you. I cannot doubt. Love to 
Christ is in even- heart-beat; loyalty to His Church is a part of 
your daily thought. Others have spoken (and will yet speak) out 
of the experience of what their eyes have seen and their ears 
heard : me you will permit, as the latest comer into this garden 
of the Dutch Church, to look forward rather than backward, and 
to require of you in the days to come the realization of all this 
premise and potency of the past. 

I have not known yon hitherto. So far as I know, not a drop 
of Dutch blood flows in my veins. I am a sort of wild olive, grafted 
in. I am not a Dutchman, but I am a Jerseyman; I am not a 
Dutchman, but I am a Christian ; and there's not a drop of blood 
of any kind but rejoices in your joy this day and thrills sympa- 
thetically with even- appeal to local remembrance and ancestral 
pride. The old mother-church of the Raritan Dutch, here pres- 
ent in my person to-day, brings you greeting. We are of one 
stock, one blood, one faith, one hope. The hope that flows so 
rejoicingly in you is of the same current that swells in us. Old 



EEADINGTON REFOEMED CHUECH. 



25 



you are indeed, and full of works, but not too old nor too affluent 
to receive what I bring you — the mother's blessing. 

It was a graceful word that your pastor spoke concerning our 
search for the date of that old first building. When the date 
{1709) shall have been proven, we shall have recovered a fact of 
local church history unknown to Dr. Messier, and gotten us a 
house of worship ten years before our proud and prosperous 
daughter took up her home in the famous log church over there 
at the head waters of the river. Indirectly this is already proved, 
one might say, by the fact that the first elders and deacons of the 
Readington Church had their children baptized in the Raritan 
Church, and that some of those same children, baptized before 
the time of your organization, afterwards became your honored 
office bearers. If the Raritan congregation worshipped in a barn 
or private house, the inference is that you, too, might have done 
the same and need not have gone so far for the sacraments. But 
you preferred to wait until, like the mother church, you could have 
your own house of worship. 

In a few years now we, too, shall celebrate an anniversary — our 
two hundredth — and it may be that at that time we shall be in a 
position to make the occasion memorable in some such fashion as 
you have done this day, by the unveiling of a tablet and the utter- 
ance of feeling tribute to the memory of one of God's faithful 
servants. Meantime it is pleasant to be reminded that the grave 
of him who served us jointly for so long a time, the first (and may 
I not say the saintliest) of them all is neither lost nor neglected 
as we feared. Your pastor has read the inscription on the monu- 
ment erected over that grave, the grave of Theodorus Jacobus 
Frelinghuysen. And in two things only has your pastor erred : first, 
in not giving me credit for having called that important matter to 
his attention; and second, in not translating for us the Latin 
motto. I asked one of the more learned brethren to give me the 



26 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



sense of it. and he says it means, " I ask not favour, I fear not 
blame." Lofty soul ! Of such stuff and fibre God's prophets are 
made. May that " spiritual religion " for which he contended, that 
gospel of the grace of God in the heart, long continue to be the 
glory of this pulpit, and the unfailing comfort of your lives ! Never 
may there cease to be heard in this place the old-time protest 
against formalism in the churches ; and never may there fail to be 
made, of those who would enter the Kingdom, the old-time, the 
all-time requirement, " Ye must be born again ! " 

And now, what can I better do than give you the ancient salu- 
tation of the Dutchman as he went from house to house at the 
beginning of the year : 

' ' Long may you live ! 

Much may you give ! 
Happy may you die, 

And Heaven be yours 
By and by ! " 

(are£fin<|s of ff?e pir*st Informed (Jl?urcl? of JSfuns- 
Wicft, \\\q I^ev 1 . p. ^fyeodore Potman, pasfor. 

My Dear Bros, and Friends ; — The First Reformed Church of 
New Brunswick brings greetings to her sister at Readington. 

The pastor, consistory, members, and even the children unite 
in this salutation. We rejoice in your age, your strength, your 
promise of continued usefulness. It is not my purpose to draw 
historical items from the archives of our church to mingle with 
such as you have already listened to lest I should produce con- 
fusion in your minds. You want to keep the dates and facts of 
your own history clearly before you. Permit me, however, to say 
briefly that we celebrated our 175th anniversary two years ago 
last Spring — April, 1892. We have two or three more gray hairs 



READING-TON REFORMED CHURCH. 



27 



in our head than you have. We are sure that we are as old as 
that for our consistorial records commence with the date of April 
12, 17 17, and our Baptismal record is complete from that date to 
the present time. There can be little doubt that there was preach- 
ing at the Raritan river where our city now stands as early as 
r703, and it seems to be beyond question that our first church 
building was erected by 17 14 — three years before the formal 
organization of the church. 

While reflecting upon the matter of our collegiate existence for 
many years there came to my mind the parallelisms in the life 
of our two churches, and of these I desire to speak. 

1. In Church Buildings. Your first edifice was described as 
" broader than it was deep," etc. Our first house of worship has 
been portrayed as follows : 

The church of the " River and Lawrence Brook " stood front- 
ing the river. The structure was of wood, and, like most of the 
early churches, its breadth was greater than its depth. Its dimen- 
sions were 50 feet broad and 40 feet deep. There were seven 
pews on each side of the pulpit, and eight along the middle aisle. 
The total number of pews in the building was fifty and they 
accommodated about 300 persons. 

When I first saw your present building I was struck with its 
similarity to ours. Yours is built of wood and ours of stone, but 
the general plan is the same. Your pews are arranged as ours, 
your galleries extend around three sides as ours, and the general 
impression of space and neatness and light are very much alike. 
Surely our ancestors were of one mind when deciding what style 
of building would be most suitable for the worship of the Triune 
God. 

2. A second parallel is found in the fact that both congrega- 
tions enjoyed the ministrations of the same ministers. Your first 



"28 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



pastor, Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, was our first pastor and 
during the same period of time from 1720 to 1748. 

In the strictest sense we were then collegiate. During the next 
twenty-five years while you were served by two different pastors 
we were served by only one and the churches were independent, 
but your third pastor — Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh — was after- 
wards our third pastor. Shortly after leaving you he came to New 
Brunswick to be the first President of Queens College and to be 
pastor of our church. He was one of the original trustees of 
Queens College. He brought to us the results of his labor and 
experience among you and we were blessed with the fruits of his 
maturer years. The traditions of his faithfulness and efficiency 
still live. His grave is with us to this day and his memory is 
blessed. 

Our good fortune as sister churches was to have the ministra- 
tions of these great and good men. We were similarly instructed 
in doctrine and doubtless in matters of discipline were handled 
alike, although their method might not have been like the preacher 
in New York State many years ago who settled things in a sum- 
mary fashion. Complaint was brought to him that an axe had 
been stolen and the parson, after listening to the statement, com- 
forted the loser of the edged tool by saying he would find his axe. 
On the following Sunday the domine took two cobble stones into 
the pulpit and at a certain point in the service paused and related 
what had come to his knowledge about a stolen axe and " now," 
said he, " I propose to throw this stone (raising his hand as if to 
throw) at the person who took that axe." Just then a nervous 
wife grabbed her husband by the arm and exclaimed, " Dodge 
Jake or he'll hit you ! " The parson needed only to add : " If 
you will call upon that man you may recover your axe." 

Reference has been made to the esteem in which Dr. Harden- 
bergh was held here and to the deference shown Jufrow Harden- 



KEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



29 



bergh. Well, I can assure you from what I know of our people 
one hundred years ago through their descendants, that we were 
not a whit behind you in these matters. If the whole congrega- 
tion remained standing until the Dr. and his estimable wife passed 
up the aisle and she was seated, we did none the less in New 
Brunswick. 

3. A third parallel lies in the fact that both our churches have 
been mothers of ministers and missionaries — around you are 
gathered your clerical sons to-day and in a far distant land your 
spiritual life has its representation. 

Our dear old church has always nursed her children on the mis- 
sionary idea and taught them the true missionary motive of obedi- 
ence to Christ's great command; consequently the list of her sons 
that have entered the gospel ministry is a long one and the names 
of those who have gone into foreign fields (both men and women) 
are conspicuous ; headed by no less a champion than David Abeel 
the pioneer missionary to Amoy, China. 

4. Again our churches have had a similar experience in the way 
of revivals. Great seasons of refreshing have come to us time 
and again from the presence of the Lord. Only recently you had 
a thorough baptism of grace. It is recorded of Dr. Harden- 
bergh's ministry with us that it was almost a continuous revival — 
and the last four pastors have had experimental knowledge of the 
mighty power of God to bring many at one time to the feet of 
His dear Son. For these testimonials of the spirit's presence and 
power let us ever be thankful. 

5. The last parallel of which I shall speak has to do with the 
present ; and if I seem to be very personal you will grant me that 
the conditions warrant such reference. These two churches once 
collegiate, and always so similar in life and development, are now 
served by two brothers — two Dutchmen — to the manor born and 
bred. 



30 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



Your pastor and I are sons of Dutch elders, were baptized in 
the Dutch Church, were classmates in grammar school, college 
and theological seminary, and have spent our whole ministerial 
lives in the Reformed Church in America. Early we were fed on 
the pap of Brown's Catechism, later on the milk of the Compen- 
dium, still later on the strong meat of the Heidelberg Catechism. 
We have subscribed to the doctrines of our church and preach 
them agreeably to the word of God, and if ever these two churches 
shall have itching ears and desire othei forms of doctrine they 
will be obliged to seek them from other lips. We are bound by 
the traditions of the fathers in so far that we are determined to 
make our preaching as sound as theirs. If these close relation- 
ships do not make us twins, then no two mortals born of separate 
mothers can ever be twins. If these five parallels do not show 
that our congregations are essentially collegiate, still then no con- 
ditions other than those of being governed by the same body can 
establish such a claim. 

My dear brother, I rejoice with you in all that this day means 
to you and to your people, and trust that you and I may be per- 
mitted to continue our ministry to such congregations until we 
shall have rounded out a goodly life and then exclaim with tri- 
umph in the last words of Dr. Hardenbergh : "lam going to cast 
my crown before the throne. Now I shall go to rest, for I shall 
go to be with the Lord. Hosanna !" 

©Addfess ffye l^eO. ^p^eodore loafer. 

It gives me great pleasure ; I count it an honor and esteem it 
a high privilege to stand here this afternoon. To me it appears 
like a family reunion. The brothers and sisters toiled, wrought 
faithfully together until they had gotten some substance, and then 
with true, characteristic, American independence started for them- 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



31 



selves. They husbanded their resources until they were each able 
to care well and bountifully for their own. The strongest ties of 
love, fraternal intercourse and united effort bound them together 
as one church. All working under a common head, all striving to 
promote a common cause, all inspired and urged forward by a 
common master. They were not only one in name, principle and 
virtue, but one in the great struggle for wise establishment, for 
heathful growth, for true church independence. They then 
exemplified that never dying, never failing truth, the motto of our 
own beloved church, in union there is strength, courage, victory. 

We are here to-day to enjoy the happiness, prosperity and hos- 
pitality of oar elder sister. We lay with loving hearts and gentle 
hands our laurels at her feet, to-day we would crown her with the 
brightest of diadems. We can yet weep with you in your sor- 
rows, yet bear with you your burdens, yet sing aloud with you in 
your time of happiness and praise. 

We cannot forget that we were once co-laborers. This vast, beau- 
tiful, fertile domain belonged to us, and, as one man, together we 
cultivated our Master's vineyard. At that time our interests, our 
aims were identical; we fought bravely side by side for the devel- 
opment of Christ's Kingdom and the salvation of precious souls. 
Distance was no barrier, no obstacle to united effort. The few 
miles which intervene between Readington and Millstone were 
only a pleasant, enjoyable walk, to the sturdy dominie of colonial 
times. It is inspiring to think that our forefathers stood shoulder 
to shoulder in their labors of love, that they bore together the 
heat and burden of the day, that they were co-workmen with one 
another and laborers together with God. This was a union which 
distance could not sever, which time could not destroy, but heaven 
surely bless. We can rejoice to-day that we were co-witnesses 
with the Holy Spirit. Christ said, ye are my witnesses. Christ 
sent the spirit to bear witness. The spirit beareth witness with 



32 



ANNIVEESAEY EXERCISES. 



our spirits that we are the sons of God. And it is the spirit which 
beareth witness, because the spirit is truth. It is by the co-opera- 
tion of the divine and the human, the spirit of the christian, that 
the world comes to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

The Holy Spirit incarnates Himself in us. He was sent to us, 
not to the world. In the great plan of redemption, God the 
Spirit has His part and man has his. If we be but an instrument, 
let us be the best possible tool for the Master Workman. If we 
be but an humble witness, let us be clear, convincing, all power- 
ful. If we be but a mirror, let us reflect with perfection the per- 
son, character and work of the Blessed Master. Thus by the 
help, presence and wisdom of the Holy Spirit we will do greater, 
grander, more glorious work in the future than in the past. 

If what I have said be true, we were and are yet the actual 
representatives of Christ in this section of country. What sol- 
emn and high significance there is in this fact, that we, if we are 
truly regenerate, bear our Lord's name, " The Christ," " One 
Christ in heaven, another Christ on earth; one the head, the 
other the body." The Church is the body of Christ, Christ Him- 
self. Does not all Scripture teach the oneness, the unity, the en- 
tire absorption of the disciple and the Master. We grow out of 
our old nature into the very Christ. Christ walks, talks, acts, 
lives on earth in and by us. What a responsibility was upon our 
early churches ? What upon us ? The work done in our respect- 
ive neighborhoods testifies that we have not been "apostate and 
worldly and unconsecrated." This gathering here to-day is a liv- 
ing witness to the co-laboring, the co-witnessing, the perfect man- 
ifestation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by the churches, the 
individual members, the body cf Christ which stood in early years 
in collegiate relation. May our separation only tend to the en- 
largement of Christ's demand, the enriching of Christ people. My 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH 



33 



brother, to you I bring the congratulations, the salutations, the 
heart of Old Millstone. 

The Neshanic Church sends through me, its pastor, its sincere 
congratulations on this your 175th anniversary occasion. You 
have called us sister, but I leave it with you whether we are your 
sister or you our mother. The record of the Neshanic Church 
says that the " Consistory of the Noord-Brens Church," came over 
to Neshanic August 25, 1752, and organized a church for the con- 
venience of those members who were "far away from the other 
churches where the preaching of the Gospel is and are debarred 
of sufficient opportunity to attend the means of grace." The 
Consistory appointed in this newly organized church were evidently 
of the membership of this church. Later a line for defining the 
bounds of the two congregations was agreed upon, and the Rari- 
tan river was made the boundary of division. The Neshanic 
Church can boast of more than the Readington Church in that it 
knows the date of its birth. It has a building also of which it is 
proud ; the walls of which for 121 years have listened to the voice 
of praise and prayer and sermon. It can also rejoice in the min- 
istry of Domines John Frelinghuysen and J. R. Hardenberg. Be- 
sides it has had Van Harlingen and Polhemus and Froeligh and 
Labagh and Smith and Ludlow. 

There is a common work for our churches to do, dear brethren, 
for we are similarly situated, both being entirely in the country. 
We must take a firm stand for temperance and the honoring of 
the Sabbath day and attendance upon divine worship; three 
things the neglect of which we with others stand particularly ex- 
posed to. Faithful in our work, we shall receive the glorious re- 



3 



34 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



ward awaiting faithful servants. Again, in the name of the Ne- 
shanic Church, I bid you God-speed. 

Note. — The Rev. John Van Iyiew was born in the Neshanic congrega- 
tion. 

Bedminsf^r Greeftr\<f — l^eO. fpi?omas Waller Qones. 

To the pastor and members of this congregation, I bring the 
hearty greetings of the Reformed Church of Bedminster. In the 
inspiring historical sermon, to which we this morning listened, 
allusion was made to the fact that the Readington Church had 
not during its extended life, observed an anniversary. A history 
such as this church can boast of is certainly worthy of celebration. 
To look back over one hundred and seventy-fire years of eccle- 
siastical life and effort is a rare event. 

In domestic affairs it is befitting, on the one hand, that parents 
should study the welfare of their children. They should look for- 
ward to the coming years when their children, if properly trained, 
will be able to enjoy whatever they may do for their comfort and 
usefulness. And the children in turn, when they come to years of 
maturity, should never forget to look back and recall what their 
parents have done in their behalf. So in ecclesiastical economy. 
The fathers, laboring devotedly for the church's advancement, 
should realize the great fact that the coming generations will be able 
to profit from what they do in behalf of Zion. And never should 
the sons of the church prove recreant to the blessed heritage of 
Godly fidelity, influence and example that comes down from those 
that preceded them. 

This is to you a day of retrospection and reminiscence. What 
a stretch into the past ! Not far from two entire centuries. No 
less than five generations of religious toilers have here labored for 
the sacred cause of truth and righteousness. No wonder you are 
so enthusiastic to-day. It is your duty as well as your delight to 



KEADINGTON REFORMED CHUKCH. 



35 



hold in high esteem the deeds of those who planted and matured 
and guarded this Zion so that now she stands so prominent and 
powerful in this locality. 

Bedmmster and Readington have much in common in their 
respective histories. When you were thirty-nine years old we came 
into existence. We were not your daughter, but your sister, a 
twin sister I would say, were it not for our difference in age, inas- 
much as for thirty-six years our churches had the same ministerial 
headship. Rev. J. R. Hardenberg, D.D., your third pastor, was 
our first minister. In those days church extension was carried on 
by the planting of new enterprises in unoccupied territory, more 
than by the colonizing feature. Localities were pre-empted, as it 
were, for the cause of Christ by far-seeing and devoted ministers 
who were able to anticipate the growth of population. What a 
wonderful activity and influence marked the pastorate of Dr. 
Hardenberg, who for twenty-three years did such excellent and 
efficient work in your church and ours. We wonder at the abund- 
ance of the labors undertaken and accomplished by this devoted 
man of God. Some persons undertake much, but accomplish lit- 
tle. No man can do two things at the same time, and do them 
well. Nevertheless a multitude of activities tend to the increased 
power and usefulness of that man who has learned to apply him- 
self intently and intensely to one thing — throwing his whole soul 
therein — and as soon as that is accomplished take up another 
with equal devotedness of time and toil ; and when that is done, 
still another. Greatness of influence consists in the aggregate of 
tasks well performed. A minister's first duty is for the souls of 
men. To win and culture them requires tact as well as thought. 
Spiritual zeal should mark the true pastor. This is chief. He 
who is the servant of God is emphatically the servant of the peo- 
ple, for their present and eternal welfare. The man who does 
the most good to the souls of men is without doubt the best and 



36 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



greatest minister. To preach and pray and plan with the sublime 
purpose of saving souls is the high and holy task assigned to the 
ambassador of Christ. If a preacher has time and talent for 
other things pertaining to the prosperity of his fellow-men, with- 
out neglecting this peculiar business, so much the better. 

Dr. Hardenberg was not only one of the greatest preachers of 
his day, but one of the most efficient champions of American 
independence in those serious and stormy Revolutionary times in 
which his pastorate existed. He was foremost and forceful in his 
advocacy of American freedom. He assisted in the formation of 
the Constitution of this State and otherwise aided in National 
affairs. His name stands among the highest on the pages of our 
denominational and national history. Subsequent to his remark- 
able pastorate, after a brief interval of official separation, we were 
jointly served for the period of thirteen years by the excellent and 
energetic Rev. Peter Studdiford. This preacher was specially 
noted for the force and finish and freshness of his extemporaneous 
addresses. Also for his consecration to the highest and broadest 
spiritual interests of his congregations. 

In one other feature we have a similarity of experience. While 
age marks our history, a youthful spirit pervades our churches. 
That congregation is not to be congratulated that glories in its 
past achievements to the neglect of present activities. We revere 
best the memory of worthy ancestors by catching their spirit, 
copying their earnestness and carrying forward to still higher and 
larger attainments the noble work in which they were successfully 
engaged. This is evidently your spirit, as revealed in the scenes 
and sentiments of this grand celebration. Bedminster heartily 
clasps the hand of Readington to-day, with cordial congratula- 
tions respecting your brilliant past, and warmest wishes for a future 
equally bright. 



At the conclusion of this admirable series of addresses the audi- 



READINGTON KEFOEMED CHURCH. 



37 



ence rose and sang hymn 429. Then the pastors of the churches 
that have grown out of Readington Church were announced. The 
churches that were thus represented were Rockaway, North 
Branch, South Branch and Three Bridges, and the addresses fol- 
low herewith in regular order. 

Address fye l^etf. B. (J. Miller, Qv. 

My Dear Brother — It is entirely unnecessary for me to reiter- 
ate the expression of the joy which is so general at being permit- 
ted to take part in your joy to-day, or even to express the love 
which the church which I represent bears as a daughter to this 
church as her mother. 

Brother Wyckoff came over to our centennial two years ago 
and spoke upon a subject which I imposed upon him, " The Re- 
lation of a Mother Church to Her Daughter." He has now 
turned the tables upon me and imposed the topic, " The Daugh- 
ter's Relation to Her Mother." 

The daughter's relation to her mother — where shall we learn 
this ? Not in nature, but in grace ; not in observation, but in in- 
spiration ; not in reason, but in revelation. Nature, observation, 
reason — these may furnish illustrations of the relationship ; but if 
we wish to discover what it is and something of what it implies, 
we must go to the Book. Looking into Scripture to find some- 
thing to say on this occasion, I was reminded of Antioch, the 
daughter, and Jerusalem, the mother, and "the mother of us all." 
And, following the law of God's Holy Spirit, as indicated in the 
history of the doings of these churches, I find that the relation of 
a daughter church to a mother church is at least twofold. 

It is first a relation of ready helpfulness in time of need. When 
they of Antioch heard that there were famine and suffering in the 
old mother church in Judea, it is written that " the disciples, every 



38 ANNIVERSARY EXEECISES 

man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the 
brethren that dwelt in Judea." And this is an indication of what 
should be perpetually recognized and felt and done by daughter 
churches respecting mother churches. I know that the Christian 
Church has forgotten or thinks she has outgrown this as she 
has forgotten or thinks she has outgrown many things in the 
Scripture. No doubt you have had your times of need; but I 
never heard of our people sending you aid in these times — -per- 
haps because you never let us know of your needs. Whatever the 
reason, here stands the revealed indication that the relation of a 
daughter church to a mother church is a relation of ready helpful- 
ness. As no man liveth unto himself, so no church liveth unto 
herself. The shield of faith is never for selfish use ; it is for the 
protection and aid of others also. O for a little of the tactics and 
discipline of the old Roman soldier ! Each one had a shield large 
enough to protect himself ; but in certain emergencies the whole 
phalanx would raise their shields above their heads and, either 
somehow locking them together or holding them together by the 
strength of brawny arms, would build an impervious roof over each 
other — " testudo," they called it, a turtle, — and march on to tre- 
mendous execution. 

Secondly, the relation of a daughter church to a mother church 
is a relation of ready submission in time of dispute. When dis- 
sension arose in Antioch, " The brethren appointed that Paul and 
Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem 
unto the apostles and elders about this question." Your daughter 
has had her disputes ; but I never heard of any of them being sub- 
mitted to her mother according to this inspired example. Unless 
our Christianity follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in these things 
as well as in those technically called spiritual things, it is lacking. 
Unless our religion reach down and touch the pocket and regulate 
all money matters according to this Holy Word, unless it be influ- 



EEADINGTON EEFOKMED CHUECH. 



39 



ential and practical within us and within our churches when there 
is a flash of anger in the eye, there is something wrong. It is easy 
to get together and say sweet and pretty words to one another ; it 
sounds grand and noble and even pious to utter great things about 
God and His cause ; but unless these words are backed up by 
Scriptural deeds along the lines and on the planes which men — 
too many of even Christian men — are inclined to call low, they 
are but "sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." It is on the so- 
called " low " planes that the reality of Christianity is seen and 
felt and proved. 

These, at least, are implied in the relation of a daughter 
church to a mother church — ready helpfulness in time of need 
and ready submission in time of dissension. 

Now, why not manifest this relationship ? We cannot do this 
without remembering it. And we ought to remember it at least 
annually. Not just once in a hundred and seventy-five years 
ought this to be called to mind and great celebration of speeches 
and feasting made over it. Why not at least once a year — the 
Lord's day nearest to the 12th of January, our birthday, would be 
a good time, as respects us — why not imitate this same Antioch 
when she became a mother, and send a delegation to the daugh- 
ter churches " to see how they fare." Don't just come in and sit 
down so that the pastor shall say, " Hm ! Some of the Read- 
ington people here, to-day ! " and that be the end of it. But let 
us know you are coming, or at least that you are there, as a dele- 
gation, with questions to ask and greetings and counsel to give ; 
and you will be recognized and treated well and sent away home 
with responses and with love (and I wish I dared say with money, 
if you had need). Why not have an annual home-coming for all 
the children ? Not once in a hundred and seventy-five years, but 
once a year ; not for celebration, but for sympathy and practical 
help. Keep the relationship before us, the relationship of churches 



40 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



— church daughterhood and church motherhood ! The pastors 
are all right along these lines of courtesy and fellowship. They 
exchange, they love and sympathize and help. The people pass 
back and forth as occasion offers. But I plead for church help- 
fulness and church submission, according to the Scriptures. 

As a molecule in the body of your daughter church, and in her 
name, I wish you, mother, love and success. 

Address of % Kjetf. p. M. Doolittle. 

I come to-day, with the greetings of what I may call The Sec- 
ond Church of North Branch to the First Church of North 
Branch. To me, the theory of ecclesiastical genealogy is some- 
what confused. All these old churches aspire to be known as 
" Mother Churches." For the third time, now, within a few years, 
my church has been claimed as a " daughter church; " and I 
hear that the time is not far away when we shall again be expected 
to do filial duty. It is no uncommon thing for a woman to have 
many daughters ; my church seems to invert the order of nature, 
in being the child of many mothers 

I sincerely wish I could demonstrate this relationship with the 
Church of Readington. I think I can account for the previous 
connection of those who formed the Church of North Branch in 
1825, with a single exception. That one may have come from 
Readington ; giving you " the benefit of the doubt " in her case, 
we will claim her as the old-time link that joined us. 

Waiving all this, we of North Branch, are your next door neigh- 
bors, and good friends always. In 1827, our consistory appointed 
a committee to confer with a committee from your church, for 
the purpose of establishing " a division line " between the two con- 
gregations. That committee, so far as I know, has not yet re- 
ported, and it is hardly to be expected that it ever will report. 
In fact we need no " division line; " if it were drawn, it would 




REV. JOHN G. VAN SLYKE, D. D., 

SEVENTH PASTOR, 1869-1870. 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH 



41 



present as marvellous an instance of zigzagging as you ever saw ; if 
there were a line fence between us, we would wish it made up en- 
tirely of gates — rather would tear it away, and burn up the rails. 
We rejoice in free coming and going. If any two congregations 
were ever more interpenetrated geographically, more interchanged 
as to pastoral and social courtesies, and transfer of members, and 
more intermarried, I should like you to tell me. May we long 
live and flourish, m mutual harmony and good neighborhood. 

My acqaintance and interest in Readington Church have con- 
sisted largely along with my intercourse with her pastors. I must 
confess, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary, hav- 
ing lived beside you more than thirty-eight years. I first met 
Domine Van Liew in 1852, and was a neighboring pastor from 
1856 until his death. I knew him well. He was venerable, dig- 
nified, affable and kind to young men. He was so substantial, 
sincere and always himself that knowing him at all was knowing 
him wholly; known once, he was always known by his friends. In 
looking back I lose sight of the time marks in his course, and it 
seems as though I must have known him and this church identified 
with him, from the date of his settlement here as pastor. He was 
patient, faithful and laborious ; confirmed in his theories and es- 
tablished in his modes, he yet had a certain progressiveness, which 
made him successful and acceptable to the end of his pastorate. 

Then came Domine Van Slyke, who made impressions and ex- 
erted influences here which are operative to this day. He soon 
began looking around to see just how much of Readington was 
absolutely and permanently essential to his happiness ; and when 
he had settled the question he took her upon his arm and walked 
off. Some rather resented his leaving, and one old lady remarked, 
" Well, if Mr. Van Slyke leaves Readington now I think he'll be 
but a rolling stone." However he has rolled over but twice, and 
if he has gathered no moss, he has gathered what is better. He is 



42 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



a much greater man than when he left here ; " may his shadow 
never grow less." 

Domine Smock succeeded him, and his pastorate was of con- 
siderable length. Active, keen, racy and exercising his powers in 
various directions, his ministry was highly marked and memora- 
ble. I grieve as I notice his absence from this scene on account 
of declining health, and may God's strength be made perfect in 
his servant's weakness. 

And here is Domine Wyckofif, your present pastor. When he 
entered upon this field, my heart went out to him and has not yet 
turned back from him. His acceptability with all is fully recog- 
nized. His influence with the young is happily evidenced in con- 
nection with Christian Endeavor work. He is satisfying to the 
older members of his charge — one of whom doubtless spoke for 
many others in saying, " We never expected to get another min- 
ister so much like Domine Van Liew." We pray for his long 
continuance here, with increasing faithfulness in the spiritual ad- 
vantage of his people. 

We have been looking back today and celebrating history. Let 
us not fail to look forward as well nor forget that this generation 
is making history. Sin, in whatever form the outcropping may be, 
is in all the ages essentially the same. The same old Satan is alive 
and as intently as ever at work. Sin and Satan are to be met and 
vanquished. The weapons of our warfare are the same, well 
proved, adequate. The same Jesus Christ lives and reigns, and 
He leads on to victory. The end is not problematical. 

A hundred years from now every one of this huge assembly will 
have gone hence. Oh ! that every one of you may then, being 
glorified, look down from supreme heights upon those who may 
then be congregated here to celebrate the 275th anniversary of 
this church. May your labors, divinely blessed, greatly contrib- 
ute to making her more glorious in the future than in the past. 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



43 



^Wdtess by RJeO. Isaac l>f>erlin<g, gouft? Branch 

Who has not heard of Readington Church ? You may go to 
the far West and find many there who love it. You may go to 
the North and to the South — yes, you may visit the other side of 
the globe and find those to whom its name is very dear ! 

When but a little boy I learned about it ; and have always 
thought of it as being an historic organization. 

As an individual, mine is more than a passing and ordinary in- 
terest. For since the beginning of the present pastorate, that 
interest has been drawn here in an especial way ; because the pas- 
tor is a friend of my childhood, and one whom I highly esteem. 

Happy and grateful in so doing, 1 feel it to be a great honor to 
represent a church that may be looked upon as one that has 
largely grown out of this. 

It seems to me that Pastor Wyckoff must have had a feeling 
of awe and a sense somewhat akin to reverence as he undertook 
the task of going over those old sources of information which re- 
fer to the early history of this church. 

How the strong characters of those who have gone before must 
have come back as he studied the old story ! 

How our attention was riveted and our hearts stirred as we lis- 
tened to that grand recital this morning ! O, the piety of the 
fathers of old ! 

The integrity, the faithfulness, the faith ! How the blessed 
qualities all come back to us as we go over the meager records 
that refer to their church life and work ! 

Taking up our own record book, which to me is old, something 
of the same feeling comes as I go over the names of those re- 
corded there as having brought their certificates from this church 
to unite in the new organization of Branchville. 

Sixteen, if I mistake not, came at one time by letter, represent- 



44 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



Ing a strong faith and sturdy Christianity, to undertake the work 
as it opened up at South Branch in the year 1850. 

Others also came who have since professed faith in Christ. 

Early influences upon us have not been lost. 

In that carefully prepared history, by one of the sons of this 
church, now of blessed memory, is recorded a statement by one 
who was among our first members. Said he to the historian : 
u I have seen the time in Readington Church when it was very 
easy to go to church on a week day, leaving hay in the field ready 
to ' come in' ; and I have hoped I might see the same again be- 
fore I die — and it looks very much like it now in Branchville." 

We are a church-going people ; for such was our early training. 

I once heard reference made to a portion of a good Dutch con- 
gregation as being " the cream " of that congregation. 

Now I want to say that " the cream " of the South Branch 
congregation is not collected all in one locality, but there is 
" cream " throughout. 

Is it too much to say that the influence of this grand old church 
lias contributed largely to such a state of affairs ? 

Ours is a peculiar relation, geographically. The old site of the 
first building is within our bounds. 

The residence of the fifth pastor (Studdiford), was not far from 
our sanctuary. 

Socially and spiritually, our relations are and have always been 
delightful. 

At this time, there comes before my vision an aged mother in 
whose presence stands a devoted daughter. There cannot be 
heard the sound of human voice, as by look and gesture that 
daughter speaks to the one whom she loves so much. 

For she has not the gift of audible speech, and therefore must 
say what she washes to say in another way. 

The relationship between that mother and daughter is an ideal 



KEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHUKCH. 45* 



one — so devoted to each other — no harsh or ruffled feelings, but 
a continuous flow of pure affection, and unceasing willingness on 
the part of each to do what they might for the other. 

Now the Branchville Church through a humble representative 
brings greeting to Mother Readington this afternoon. And while 
she can give no eloquent testimonial of her esteem and gratitude 
in the way of an address, nevertheless there is all of the devotion 
and loyalty and fellowship that are experienced by the other mem- 
bers of the family. 

To each of us it would seem as though we had all of what you 
have to give of interest and good will. But these funds are inex- 
haustible ; and not one of your daughters will complain, because 
you do not show any preference or partiality, but make us all 
feel that we are very near to you. 

What a joyous home-gathering this is ! Truly your " children 
arise up " to-day and call you blessed ! 

We are not here to cast a cloud over the luster of this occasion, 
but we would, if possible, add to the brightness of this day by 
assuring you that to us you are not old. Those qualities and 
characteristics that endear you to us are by no means waning 
with the advancing years. One, among and with your children, 
ever setting before them an example of Christian faithfulness, fel- 
lowship and activity. 

We are thankful, yea, we are proud, Dear Mother, that it is 
your life blood which flows through our veins. 

May you continue to do the work the Lord has given you to 
do, even as you have done" f it in the past. And at last may it be 
ours to rejoice as one united church in the presence of Him who 
is the Great Head of the Church. 



46 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



Address % l§eO. ©. M. Voor^ees. 

In one of the earlier Psalms (the 15th), we find an answer to 
the question, " Who is a welcome guest in the house of God?" 
Among other characteristics this is included, " He that sweareth to 
his hurt and changeth not." Dr. Deiitszh translated the passage 
thus : 

"If he swear to his hurt, he changeth not." 

And Dr. De Witt's rendering is, " He may swear to his harm, 
but he answers not." 

The verse may be paraphrased thus : If he make a solemn 
promise or enter into a covenant, and it turn out to his disvan- 
tage, yet he swerves not from his promise, and as zealously fulfills 
the terms of the covenant as though it worked to his profit. He 
makes great sacrifices rather than break his word. This is one of 
the moral qualities demanded of accepted worshippers before 
God. 

These qualities, as well as the others mentioned in the Psalm, 
should mark Christian organizations as well as Christian men and 
women, churches as well as church members. And if the church 
of Readington has exhibited the other characteristics required by 
the Psalmist as faithfully as she has the one to which I have re- 
ferred, she must surely be accorded a royal welcome in the tab- 
ernacle of Jehovah and a dwelling place on His holy hill. And 
we may with confidence predict for her what the Psalmist affirms 
of the accepted worshiper, she " shall never be moved." 

That this church has sworn to her hurt can easily be shown. 
There was a time when her spiritual oversight was acknowledged 
over a widely extended territory. Hers was a goodly heritage. 
The number of families reported was considerably over three 
hundred. On Sundays all these pews were occupied, the church 
was filled with worshipers and the congregation proud of its 
strength. 



READINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



47 



But the church had sworn to be loyal to the Kingdom of God, 
and to make constant effort for the extension of that kingdom. 
The fulfillment of that promise required new organizations in 
other localities. But those organizations could not be formed and 
flourish if Readington held on to her members. To be true to her 
oath of loyalty to the kingdom she had to give up members, to 
suffer the loss of families, to witness a constant contraction and 
increasing weakness in her old age. She had sworn. It proved 
to be her trust. Yet she changed not. She swerved not from 
the obligations of her oath though she has suffered and still suf- 
fers in consequence. For her constancy let us give her due honor. 

Of her loss in the formation of the other churches around, I 
have no positive knowledge. Their representatives have revealed 
so much as suited their purpose. But it remains for me to tell 
of her efforts and her loss in behalf of the most recently formed 
organization in this section, the church of Three Bridges. 

For many years the pastor of this church had lectured statedly 
in the little school house on the corner, and a Sunday School was 
maintained there, largely through the efforts of Readington peo- 
ple. It is said that as early as 1863 an attempt was made to or- 
ganize a church, but it failed on account of some misunderstand- 
ing as to the location of the church edifice. Ten years later, at 
the solicitation of a number of residents of the vicinity, the Com- 
mittee on Church Extension of the Classis of Philadelphia, to 
which the Readington Church then belonged, held a conference 
with the people. Elder Joseph Thompson was a member of 
that committee. By a large vote (none opposing), the Classis of 
Philadelphia was petitioned to grant a church. A special meet- 
ing of the Classis was called, to meet at Three Bridges, at which 
the situation was thoroughly canvassed, and the church unani- 
mously granted. This was June 20, 1873. A committee con- 
sisting of Revs. John H. Smock and M. N. Oliver, and Elder 



4S 



ANNIVERSARY EXEKCISES. 



Joseph Thompson was appointed, and directed to organize the 
church on Sunday, July 6. The committee met, received cer- 
tificates of church membership • a consistory was chosen, ordained 
and installed, and the organization of the church declared com- 
plete. 

These facts are set forth in a preface to the church register, and 
their truth attested by the signature of the chairman of the com- 
mittee, who was then pastor of the church. There are, however, 
a few additional facts that I presume Pastor Smock did not feel 
at liberty to record. The thirty members that helped form the 
organization came from five churches, viz. : The Reformed 
Churches of Readington, South Branch, Neshanic, and Clover 
Hill, and the Presbyterian Church of Reaville. And of those 
thirty members, eighteen came from Readington ; two more came 
before the first communion. Thus nearly two- thirds of our original 
membership came from this church and represent a loss of at least 
nine families. Nearly as many families have since come to us, so 
that Readington's loss in the organization of our church is about 
one-tenth the number of families now reported by her. She had 
sworn to her hurt yet changed not; so she surely merits our 
praise. 

The relation between the two churches has ever been most cor- 
dial. As your church was foremost in helping organize ours, so 
you must needs have a friendly interest in us. Your former mem- 
bers have always been given a hearty welcome when on a visit to 
their old church home, and we trust that you have ever felt a 
home feeling when visiting us. The various pastors have found 
it convenient to exchange pulpits occasionally, and in many other 
ways a cordial, neighborly, Christian interest has been manifest. 
We rejoice to be so prosperous and handsome a daughter of so 
generous and lovely a mother. 

We are still neighbors. And as it sometimes happens that the 




R V. JOHN H. SMOCK, 

EIGHTH PASTOR, 1871-1883. 



READINGTON REFORMED CHUKCH. 



49 



daughter, married and set up at housekeeping for herself, finds it 
convenient to increase her stores from the generous abundance of 
the old house, so we shall not feel we are taking undue liberties 
if we now and then carry off and appropriate to ourselves a few 
choice morsels from the home larder. We have need of them, 
and we know you will not offer serious opposition. For though 
living apart we are of one family. Dropping the figures and 
stating facts, we find that several families living much nearer 
Three Bridges than Readington, still call this their church home. 
It is but natural to expect that in time these families or their suc- 
cessors will attend the church nearest them. It will be hard for 
you to give them up. But you have sworn, so you must not 
change. That would be going back on your record. We shall 
do our best to help them preserve the family likeness. 

Do not think, however, that we are active proselyters, and that 
Readington is our special field of operation. More than once it 
has been said to me by your people: " We ought to attend your 
church. It is much nearer." My reply has been : " If you con- 
clude to cast in your lot with us, we shall try and make you wel- 
come. But we cannot urge you." As we believe the Holy Spirit 
was instrumental in making this church willing not only, but active 
also in founding the church of Three Bridges, so we believe He 
will direct those who come from you to us, and those also who 
return from us to you. 

In conclusion, I wish to affirm my belief that for all her sacri- 
fices in behalf of the Kingdom of God, the Readington Church 
will receive rich compensation. It will not come in a return of 
the old-time strength nor in less laborious conditions of church 
work, but in that satisfaction that accompanies work well done, 
and in the consciousness that her efforts have received the divine 
approval. She has and will continue to have not only the joy of 
her own ingatherings, but also a share in the harvests reaped from 

4 



50 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



the fields she has helped prepare. We rejoice with her to-day in 
one hundred and seventy-five years of successful efforts and fruit- 
ful sacrifices, and bid her God-speed for the centuries that are 
beckoning her forward. 

Hymn 235 was next sung, after which the pastor announced 
that letters of congratulation had been received from the follow- 
ing persons : 

Rev. J. H. Smock, Glen Head, L. I. 

Rev. E. W. Merritt, Salem, Conn. 

Rev. H. P. Craig, Churchville, Pa. 

Rev. D. B. Wyckoff, Ghent, N. Y. 

Rev. C. E. Wyckoff, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Mrs. P. A. Studdiford, Lambertville, N. J. 

Rev. H. D. Sassaman, Mount Pleasant, N. J. 

Rev. Theodore F. Chambers, German Valley, N. J. 

Rev. J. L. Stillwell, Bloomingburgh, N. Y. 

Rev. R. W. Brokaw, Springfield, Mass. 

Rev. I. P. Brokaw, D. D., Freehold, N. J. 

Rev. A. V. V. Raymond, D. D., LL. D., President of Union 

College, Schenectady, N. Y. 

Hon. Frederick Frelinghuysen, Newark, N. J. 
Prof. H. A. Scomp, Oxford, Ga.* 

The pastor then stated that Readington had one very near and 
dear neighbor who, owing to the fact of her having started as a 
German Reformed church, could not claim any special relation- 
ship, and yet he felt that the present occasion would be incom- 
plete could we not have a few words from the pastor of the Re- 
formed Church of Lebanon, the Rev. William E. Davis, who 
would make a " three-minute speech." 

*T he letter of Professor Scomp, who claims to be a son of this church, 
is so appropriate that we have decided to include it in our volume. It will 

be fo;::-.d at the end of the book. 



READINGTON EEFORMED CHURCH. 



51 



^ongrafulafions of ttje Ql?urcl? of bebar\on b^ fyer Pas- 

for, William 6. DaOis. 

When we see another honored and praise poured out from 
every quarter, it is very natural to wish to be able to claim rela- 
tionship. Such is the feeling of the Church of Lebanon while the 
Church of Readington is being honored as she is to-day. But 
considering the fact that the Church of Lebanon was for many 
years a German Reformed church, we can hardly claim relation- 
ship. We must be content with acquaintanceship. This we do 
claim, and rejoice in it. Especially does the pastor of the Church 
of Lebanon rejoice in the happy feeling existing between these 
two churches. The three pastors of the Church of Readington , 
viz., Van Slyke, Smock and WyckorT, have been and are to-day 
my much esteemed brethren. It is therefore a privilege for me to 
bring the congratulations of the Church of Lebanon to this old his- 
toric church. This we do, and our congratulations are as hearty 
as words and feeling can make them. We are citizens of no mean 
country, we think. Ours is a land better in our estimation than 
the Promised Land, for that was a land flowing with milk and 
honey, but ours with peaches and cream. And our congratula- 
tions to you to-day are just as rich as the products of our soil. 
Our church has lately celebrated her one hundred and fiftieth an- 
tieth anniversary — you to-day your one hundred and seventy-fifth. 
You being our senior, we make our best bow and bid you God- 
speed. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Davis' words Hymn 330 was sung, 
and the audience was dismissed with the benediction by the Rev. 
O. M. Voorhees. 

At 5:30 o'clock the friends gathered once more in the base- 
ment, and had their bodily wants again supplied. 

It was estimated that about 450 persons partook of the even- 



52 



ANNIVERSARY EXEEC1SES. 



ing meal, which was finished in time for the opening of the even- 
ing session. 



EVENING SESSION. 

At 7:30 o'clock the church was once more filled with the peo- 
ple present, and benches were again placed in the aisles and filled. 
The choir sang an especially beautiful anthem at the opening. The 
Scriptures were read and prayer was offered by the Rev. A. Paige 
Peeke, of Millstone. Hymn 107 was sung, and then the minis- 
terial sons of the church were heard in the following order : Rev. 
J. B. Thompson, D.D., Andrew Hageman, Gilbert Lane, Her- 
man Hageman, Elias W. Thompson and Jacob A. Craig. 

l^eadir\<gfon {Negroes. — ©Address EJetf. ^Jo^n Bodine 
qi}?ompsor\, D. D. 

In commencing the early history of this church we ought not 
to forget its members of African descent. Some of them have 
been most godly and devoted Christians. 

Berkeley and Carteret, the proprietors of New Jersey from its 
conquest by the British in 1664, " offered a bounty of seventy- 
five acres of land for the importation of each able slave." 

But slavery in New Jersey was not so bitter as it was elsewhere. 
As early as 1694, trial by jury was secured to slaves here. " In 
every other colony in North America the negro was denied the 
right of trial by jury * * * but here in New Jersey the only 
example of justice was shown toward the negro in North America. 
Trial by jury implied the right to be sworn, and give competent 
testimony. It had much to do toward elevating the character of 
the negro in New Jersey * * * They received better treat- 
ment here than in any other colony in the country."* 

*Williams' History of the Negro Race in America. He gives the cen- 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



53 



The first slave received into the communion of this church was 
" Black Tony, belonging to the Rev. Simeon Van Artsdaelen," 
pastor of the church ; and others followed until slavery became 
extinct in New Jersey by virtue of the act passed February 24, 
1820, which provided that children of slaves born after the 4th of 
July, 1804, should be free; if males, at 25; if females, at 21 
years of age. 

These temporary slaves, like the slaves for life, were sometimes 
hired out by their masters. Some of us here can remember our 
schoolmate, Richard L. Stryker, who had thus been hired by 
Domine Van Liew from the widow of his predecessor, Rev. 
Peter Studdiford. Afterward he became a prominent merchant 
in Liberia, and wrote from thence valuable letters of advice to 
the New Jersey colonization society. Once he came back to visit 
his friends here. He married a daughter of Governor Roberts, 
of Liberia, and amassed a fortune, which he left to his family. 

Some of us remember, also, the Rev. Peter Miller, who, though 
not a member of this church, was well known in this community 
and frequently preached to congregations gathered in private 
houses in different parts of this congregation. 

At one time slaves were regarded as real estate and their pur- 
chase and sale were conducted with the same forms as the trans- 
fer of land. But afterward they were regarded rather as personal 
property and were transferred from one master to another simply 
by bill of sale. 

He^e in this portfolio of mementoes prepared for this occasion 
are records of the purchase and sale of slaves in both these forms, 
which alike sound strange to modern ears. 

In some instances the purchasers bought also the household 

sus of slaves in New Jersey to the middle of the century, as follows : In 
1715, 1,500 ; in 1735, 3,981 ; in 1745, 4,606 ; in 1775, 7,600 ; in 1800, 12,422 ; 
in 1810, 10,851 ; in 1820, 7,557 ; in 1830, 2,254 5 in 1840, 674 ; in 1850, 236. 



54 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISER 



stuff which the slaves were accustomed to use, in order that they 
might not seem to have their old homes entirely broken up. I 
will read the record of such a purchase by Abraham Post, the 
revolutionary soldier, who sleeps in the adjoining church yard 
after a stormy life of nearly a hundred years : 

" Know all men by these presents that I, William Post, of Hillsborough 
township, in the county of Somerset and State of Xew Jersey, yeoman, 
for and in consideration of the sum of fifty-five pounds, lawful money of 
said State, to me in hand paid, by Abraham Post, of Bridgewater town- 
ship, in the county of Somerset and State of Xew Jersey aforesaid, yeo- 
man, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, having bargained and 
sold, and by these presents do bargain and sell unto the said Abraham 
Post, a negro wench named Eve and her child, a negro boy named Frank, 
and various kinds of household furniture, as bed, bedding, pewter ware, 
wooden ware, linen and yarn, and all and every other article or articles in 
her care and possession ; to have and to hold, all and singular, said wench 
and boy and goods and implements of household and every of them ; unto 
the said Abraham Post, his executors, administrators and assigns forever, 
and the said William Post, for himself, his heirs, executors and adminis- 
trators, all and singular, said wench and boy and household stuff and unto 
the said Abraham Post, his executors, administrators, and assigns, shall 
and will warrant and for ever defend by these presents. In witness 
whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this second day of Feb- 
ruary in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
five. 

Sealed and delivered ( -»— . 

in the presence of WILLIAM POST. < L. s. > 

DOUWE DlTMARS, 1 — — J 

Henry Post. 

Probably, this William Post was Abraham Post's nephew : and 
the witness, Henry Post, his father, the brother of Abraham 
Post. 

This same Abraham Post was sued by Minna Dubois (who also 
had been a soldier during the Revolutionary War), for the value 
of a slave and was compelled to pay him between $100 and $200. 
I do not know the precise nature of the offense ; but I believe 



EEADINGTON BEFOKMED CHUECH. 



55 



that it consisted in refusing to separate husband and wife by driv- 
ing from his premises one who was legally the slave of Minna Du- 
bois. Dubois' attorney was Frederick Frelinghuysen, the grand- 
son of the first pastor, and the son of the second pastor, of this 
church. His receipt for the value of the slave and the costs of 
the suit, as well as Abraham Post's memorandum of his expenses 
in defending it, are in this portfolio. 

Some of us still remember " Dick and Rose " and " Sam and 
Kate" who used to come back occasionally to the farm on 
which they had lived as slaves to visit their " Young Missy," as 
they called her, and to exchange reminiscences of earlier days, 
which brought tears of alternate joy and sorrow both to her eyes 
and to theirs. They always went away loaded with gifts. 

On what was once the glebe of this church, the farm on which 
the pastor lived, a mile west of us, on the road to the Drie Hook 
is a graveyard, surrounded by a stone wail, and cared for by this 
church. In that yard has recently been placed a gravestone, taken 
from a neglected grave near White House Station. This stone 
bears the name of George Anderson. He lived and died on 
" The Ridge," on the farm now owned by Mr. Henry Miller. In 
accordance with my suggestion the head stone was removed from 
the abandoned graveyard a few weeks ago, by the pious hands of 
George Anderson's grandson, Jacob G. Schomp, long time an 
elder of this church, and, though now eighty-eight years of age, 
present with us here in excellent health and spirits to do honor to 
this occasion. 

George Anderson had a slave, who had been the slave of his 
father on his plantation near Raritan Landing, during the Revo- 
lutionary War, and had been the foster-mother of his children. 
From this fact she was known as " Old Maumy," which the irrev- 
erence of the third generation shortened into " Maum," and re- 
garded as a proper name. Mr. Schomp still recollects the stories 



56 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES, 



she used to tell of Cornwallis' dragoons, who passed her master's 
house on their raids from New Brunswick among the neighboring 
farmers. But they never molested her or her master (as she 
thought and said) because she was always so well prepared for 
them with pitchfork and ax and boiling water. 

After the death of George Anderson on the Ridge, her old age 
found a refuge with his children, who cared for her as long as she 
lived. 

When George Anderson's daughter, Mattie, married Captain 
Henry A. Post, her father gave her as a wedding present her 
maid, Phillis, of whom she was very fond, and who was equally 
fond of her. Phillis was efficient as lady's maid, seamstress and 
nurse; and was always and only a servant. But a brother of her 
new master, the husband of her young mistress, was a wild young 
man ; and to save him from the consequence of a drunken frolic 
an entire corn-crop was sold. The consequence was that the next 
spring found the household in the most dreadful state of need ; 
and, to raise money for present necessities, Phillis was sold, (I 
think to a man near Cranbury), with the express understanding, 
however, that she was to be bought back a year later at the same 
price. 

As the end of the year drew nigh, her mistress worried about 
Phillis so much that her husband borrowed enough money from 
his neighbors to make up the price, and went after her. He did 
not return for many days ; and explained his long absence by say- 
ing that Phillis had been resold to a man in Monmouth county. 
He had driven thither and found her. 

But the tender and delicate woman had been compelled to 
work the whole season in the field ; and had been whipped and 
beaten so that she could neither walk, nor stand, nor sit, nor even 
lie in an ordinary bed. She was permanently crooked and could 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



57 



do no work of any kind. Bat he had brought her on a specially- 
prepared bed in his farm wagon. 

Then he made for her a big cradle fitted to her deformity ; and 
in this she spent the remainder of her life, cared for by her mis- 
tress whom she loved. When she died, it was impossible to put 
the body into a coffin without breaking the legs. But this her 
mistress would not permit. Accordingly, a very large grave was 
made, and Phillis's cradle became her coffin. Her mistress's 
daughter, Ann, who had often rocked Phillis in her cradle, would 
sometimes tell the story of Phillis to her daughters [now Mrs. 
Aaron Hoffman and Mrs. Pierre Henri Bousquet] with a pity and 
pathos they can never forget. 

The Dutch had possessions in Africa, as well as in North and 
South America, and slaves, as well as other merchandise were fre- 
quently transported from one of these colonies to the others. 
Those who came from the coast of Guinea were regarded as the 
most valuable, because of their superior endowments, both men- 
tal and physical. " Guinea negroes " brought more than others 
in the open market. Among these were a man who had been the 
chief of his tribe, with his wife, who now shared his slavery as she 
had shared his rule in the land of their fathers. These became 
the property of Jacob Kline, the grandfather of John Kline, the 
the well known elder of this church (who died nearly fifteen years 
ago at the age of 95). But slavery is bitter at the best, and it is 
no wonder that these Africans were fearfully homesick. Every 
endeavor was made to cheer and comfort them — save, of course, 
that of setting them free, which probably was never thought of. 
The result was, that when all hope was gone, they sought and 
found together the only freedom possible for them. The spot is 
still pointed out on Kline's brook, a mile directly north of this 
place, where stood the cedar tree upon which one morning the 



58 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



master found only the lifeless bodies of those who refused to re- 
main slaves in a strange land. 

I have a more cheerful story to tell of another Guinea negro, 
who attained his freedom I know not how. I hold in my hand a 
parchment deed, signed in a hand not accustomed to the use of 
the pen — "Aree Van Genee," — Aray from Guinea, a. name which 
the irreverent youngsters of a succeeding generation, punning 
upon the color of the man who bore it, travestied into " a raven 
Guinea !" I wish I knew his story in the land of his fathers ; how 
he crossed the Atlantic, learned the Dutch language, obtained his 
freedom and became a wealthy and respected citizen. But of all 
this I am in entire ignorance. I know nothing of him earlier than 
the 3d day of April, 1730, when he purchased of Benjamin Roun- 
savall, carpenter, 132 acres of land at Potterstown, which was then, 
within the bounds of this congregation. Ten years later (July 29, 
1740), he sold this property to Matthias Sharpenstein. From this 
sale, however, he excepted two lots of about one acre each, which 
he no longer owned. One of these lots he had sold January 22, 
1740, to William McKinney, and it is the deed for this lot which 
I hold in my hand. It is valuable chiefly because it describes the 
property as " beginning at a post for a corner standing in a line of 
land commonly called the West Jersey Society's land, it being a 
corner to land layed out to the Lutheran Congregation Meeting 
House." I have also a deed for this Potterstown farm to Corne- 
lius Wyckoff, executed May 11, 1 761, by the children of Matthias 
Sharpenstein, excepting from the sale the "small lot formerly con- 
veyed to William McKinney, and one other, where the Lutheran 
Meeting House is now built" 

These statements warrant the inference that the Lutheran 
Church at Potterstown (which afterward became the Reformed 
Church of Lebanon) was organized before 1740, and its edifice 



KEADINGTON REFOEMED CHUECH. 



59 



erected before 1761 ; and also that the land for the meeting 
house was given by this negro, Aray from Guinea. 

After selling his property at Potterstown Aray bought land 
nearer this church, including the farm now in the possession of Mrs. 
Herman Hageman and the one back of it to Campbell's brook, 
on the banks of which he and, his descendants lived and died. 

His son, James Aray, was an honored soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war j and his children were among the most respected cit- 
izens of this community within the memory of some here present. 
The first name of a free negro that I find upon the list of commu- 
nicants of this church is Mary Aray. I believe that there are none 
of the family now resident here. Some of them have, I believe, 
been successful business men in New York city. 

God makes even the wrath of man to praise Him. The man- 
stealers meant it for evil— and it was evil in them; but God 
meant it for good, that the inhabitants of the dark continent might 
learn the way of salvation and live the life and die the death of 
the righteous, loving and serving the Lord Jesus. 

I have already alluded to Richard L. Stryker, who went from 
here to Liberia to do excellent work for the Master there. The 
records of the Somerset County Bible Society show a contribution 
made by negroes for the express purpose of sending Bibles to 
Africa. Heaven is vocal with praises from thousands thus re- 
deemed from ignorance and sin. There is now looking out upon 
us from their heavenly windows "a great cloud of witnesses," in- 
cluding negroes as well as whites, rejoicing with us to-night in 
what has been done for the Master here in the days that are past, 
intent to see what we are doing for him now, anxious only that 
as our privileges are greater, so also our consecration shall be 
greater than was theirs. Shall their desires be realized ? Shall we 
be better and do more for Christ than it was possible for them to 
do? 



30 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES 



I append the names of the slaves and free negroes which I have 
found upon the records of this church, though the imperfection of 
the record does not allow it to be made complete : 

Slave— Black Toney, belonging to the Rev. Simeon Van Artsdalen ; Sam, 
a negro servant of Peter Ten Eyck ; Martin Wyckoff, to be baptized ; 
Margaret, negro woman, of the widow Mauriceson ; William, negro serv- 
ant of Joseph Van Doren ; Thomas, negro servant of Daniel Amerman ; 
Joseph, a negro man servant of John Wyckoff ; Susannah, wife of the 
aforesaid Joseph, and woman servant of the aforesaid master ; , col- 
ored woman, wife of Sam. Hall ; Charles, colored man of Tunis Cole ; 
States, colored man of Cortland Voorhees : Dian, wife of States. 

Free — Mary Aray, John Van Derveer, Susan Kline, Martha Schamp, 
Pompey Lane, Hannah Lane, Peter L. Kline, Elijah V. N. Ten Eyck, 
Margaret Ann Simpson, Sarah C. Lane, Josephine Dawes, Sarah C. 
Schureman, John Cox. Margaret Jane Lane, Leonora Condit, Charles Van 
Horn, James V. Van Horn. 

sAdch'ess b^J ffye I^eO. <^lt\dr^W {fa|eman. 

I have been thinking to-day as to the exact reason why we sons 
of the church are summoned to respond. Possibly it is that we 
may give an account of ourselves, for here we still retain our 
church membership. 

I have it to confess, that I have been married three times to 
churches. The first, a young bride born in 1858. The second, 
a bride older than my mother church, born in 1699. The last 
one, venerable also, born in 1700. I cannot decide which is pref- 
erable, the young or the old ; for I loved them all and they have 
each treated me right royally and handsomely. 

I seem to be a connecting link in my ecclesiastical life of the 
scenes of the older laborers in the Dutch church in this State. 

Bertholf, Morgan and Frelinghuysen were the first to serve our 
church in this State. 

Bertholf was for twenty-four years stated supply at Belleville, 
my present charge. Morgan, for twenty-two years, served, as its 



EEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



61 



first pastor, the Church of Middletown, now called Holmdel, my 
previous charge. Frelinghuysen, as we have heard this morning, 
for twenty-eight years was the first pastor of this church of my 
birth. I have thus been permitted to enter into their places of 
successful service. 

As a son of this church, I therefore look back with pride to- 
night at her, and count it an honor to be one of her living sons. 

I surely stand ready, in these closing hours of a most happy and 
memorable day in her history, to rise up and praise her for what 
she has done for me. Although she was more than a century 
and a half old when I was begotten of her into the grace of Jesus 
Christ, yet I realize the marks of her motherhood upon me. 

The thought which I desire to emphasize in these few moments 
assigned to me is this : The power and influence of a church 
over the minister, born and grown up therein. In other words, I 
believe that the environment of our early years cling to us as 
ministers of the gospel throughout life. 

This is a very comforting thought to me because I can look 
back to so much, which was pleasurable and profitable in those 
years of my life. 

This is a most awfully solemn thought to me, as I look forward 
and realize the indelible influence of my life upon those, whom 
God has called or is calling in my own congregations into this 
most kingly of all services, the Christian Ministry. 

And the life of each individual in every congregation has its 
influence, too, as such. " For no man liveth to himself." 

I consider myself extremely fortunate in being born into this 
church just at the time I was. It was thirty-one years ago — 
nearly a generation ago. So what I say of praise is mostly con- 
cerning those whose work is almost or quite completed. 

I am glad that the man of God, who received me as a lad of 
thirteen, so tenderly and lovingly into this church, has had his 



62 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 

memory so conspicuously emphasized by this beautiful tablet un- 
veiled this morning. It will ever greet the eye of those who wor- 
ship here as an evidence of worthy esteem. 

The impress of his life was left upon the generation of men 
who are almost gone. The parents of the most of these seven 
living sons of this church had their characters moulded and de- 
veloped by this man of God ; and we have entered in thus largely 
to the inheritance of their blessings. 

The first thing which I will mention as stamped upon me by my 
early associations in this church is this. It may seem trivial, but 
to me it is real in illustrating the influence of early church asso- 
ciations. 

I saw the old church consumed into ashes. From yonder seat 
of learning with a boy's vim I ran thither and watched it to the 
end. I recall the grave look upon the faces of the older men. I 
heard their resolves to build. I watched the progress until all 
was completed. And when I saw the effect of this so beautiful 
interior with its oak grain finish, I could conceive of no effect 
more beautiful and durable. And thirty years of wear upon it 
have proven that I was not a bad judge. What was the result ? 
Just this. In my ministry I have built two chapels and remodeled 
a third; and somehow, minister like, I expressed my opinion and 
stuck to it, and to-day two of the three bear the marks of the oak 
grain. 

Another thing stamped upon me by my early church associa- 
tions here is this. I think it was largely born of the calm, digni- 
fied, gentle, loving, sympathetic manner of him who was my 
spiritual shepherd. 

I never saw him impatient with his people. I learned a lesson 
for life. " That the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be 
gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. In meekness instruct- 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



63 



ing those who oppose themselves." That more and better battles 
for the Lord are won by love than by wrath. 

If I have been successful in my ministry in quelling strifes, I 
owe much of my success under God to what I learned semi-un- 
consciously here. 

Again sitting under the preaching of a sound gospel; thor- 
oughly orthodox and yet not timid of new truth. 

Listening to the reasonings of men, but never letting go of those 
" Thus saith the Lords " — how often do I recall his emphasizing 
these — I have never lost my love for the old truths, nor grown too 
big for the Bible of my fathers. 

No one can fully tell the effects of the plain, simple preaching 
of the truth. 

I attribute also somewhat of my love and interest in the circu- 
lating of the Scriptures to what I learned here as in a sort of re- 
ligious kindergarten. 

Well do I recall those annual offerings for the County Bible 
Society. When after the appeal to the importance of the work 
had been made, the subscriptions were taken and one, two, three 
at least, some years perhaps more, names had set opposite them 
$30 for a life membership. From year to year this was repeated 
until there were families in which the husband and the wife and 
each of the children became L. M.'s of the Bible Society in this 
way. 

Do you wonder that such scenes left their impress ? And that 
when I in turn asked my people to contribute to the Bible cause 
I could do so with ease and confidence and generally with marked 
success ? 

Here, too, I learned my first lessons about the heathen without 
the gospel. And as this church was never tardy in its sympathy 
and loving gifts for the outcast and the lost of earth in the regions 



64 



ANNIVERSAEY EXERCISES. 



beyond, I caught the lesson early in life that my Christian love- 
must be worldwide. 

Those early impressions have never left me. 

The importance of an education was impressed upon me here. 
A small village is not the easiest place to obtain this. And yet I 
recall that when good old Dr. Campbell, President of Rutgers 
College, came here seeking for friends to aid in the indorsement 
of that institution, he found some who were willing to give the 
amount of a scholarship in the hope that one or more of their sons 
would desire to enjoy a collegiate education. 

There has been a long line of college graduates from this 
church. The pastor of this church for forty-two years believed, 
and he often emphasized his conviction that every lad desirous of 
a college education ought to be sent. Possibly some of us, sons 
of this church in the ministry and elsewhere in useful callings, 
never will know exactly all the influence he exerted to open the 
way for our higher education. 

Finally there is one other influence for good received here of 
which I wished to speak. We hear much of C. E. in these latter 
days, and well it is. But there was a Christian Endeavor in this 
congregation before modern C. E. ever shaped itself into exist- 
ence, which has helped me to this hour. 

About twenty-seven years ago in one of the homes of this con- 
gregation, half a dozen or more young men met to open their lips 
for the first time in public prayer. I was one of them. I see 
some of them now before me. Some have gone on into the heav- 
ens. But there we fought our battle against timidity and self-dis- 
trust and gained a mastery for life. 

But more than that, I learned a lesson of sympathy for the 
young, and felt a desire to aid such, where I had needed help, 
which has never left me. 

And I can say with pride and joy and conscious success that I 




R V. B. V. D. WYCKOFF, 

PRESENT PASTOR. 1894. 



KEADINGTON EEFORMED CHURCH. 



05 



have never been the pastor of a church for a single year in these, 
my nineteen years of service for Christ, without having a young 
people's prayer meeting service. 

Such are a few of the things which impress me as I stand up 
to-night and wish my old mother church a word of joy and God- 
speed for her beneficial influences bestowed upon me as she cele- 
brates her century and three-quarters birthday. May she live to 
round out her second^ century, and many, many centuries of years 
of usefulness. 

Address of fl?e RJeO. (ailberf bane. 

Rev. Gilbert Lane, the oldest of the ministerial children of 
Readington Church, said as follows, as near as he could recall it : 
He expressed his great gratification in being permitted to enjoy 
and participate in the exercises of this memorable occasion and 
while feeling young was convinced that he could not be young 
(as measured by years), for it was forty years (40), ago that the 
Classis of Philadelphia, to which this church then belonged, met 
in this place to examine him for license, and that not only the 
venerable Dr. Labaugh, who signed his license with feeble and 
trembling hand, but all the other ministers of the Classis, who 
then ministered in the several congregations, have ceased from 
labor and been called to enjoy the reward of the faithful. He 
thought it becoming in this gathering of the ministerial children 
of the congregation to say a word about those who preceded him 
in the ministry, with whom he had enjoyed acquaintanceship. 

The first was the Rev. Peter O. Studdiford, licensed in 1821, 
and who labored for the Master in the Presbyterian Church of 
Lambertville, N. J., of whom he says : 

It was during the last years of his life that I enjoyed this ac- 
quaintance with him. I admired him for his learning, ability and 



5 



66 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



eloquence, but I learned to love him, for his piety, his sympathy 
and the encouragement he gave to me as a young and diffident 
brother. He labored long, faithfully and successfully. 

The next son of the church was the Rev. Cornelius WyckorT, 
licensed in 1838. I visited him when I was a student. This visit 
was not only pleasant, but instructive, and I held him in great es- 
teem as long as he lived. I have never forgotten a remark he 
made about his very large congregation of 300 families in Ulster 
County, N. Y., the present pastor of which is the Rev. John L. 
McNair. He divided the congregation in three parts ; 100 families 
were regular church attendants, 100 families occasional, and the 
other 100 never. Their desire for and need of a minister did not 
extend beyond their desire that he should marry them, and preach 
a funeral sermon when they died. I relate this experience with 
the hope that Bro. Wyckoff, of Readington, will never have to 
make this division or anything like it in his congregation. 

The next minister licensed from this congregation was the Rev. 
Wm. J. Thompson, in 1841. He labored for three years in the 
pastorate, and then entered on the great work of his life, the pre- 
paring students for college and business life ; and in Rutgers Col- 
lege Grammar School, and other places made his mark as an able 
and successful instructor, as I with many others can testify, and 
are thankful now, if we were not always then, for the severe dril- 
ling that he gave us, in the laying of a good foundation for a lib- 
eral education. It can be said of him (in the best and truest 
sense), "he rests from his labors and his works do follow him." 

The Rev. John Simonson, the ministerial brother next preced- 
ing me, was licensed in 1845. Before this he for some time 
taught the village school in Readington, which I attended in my 
boyhood. I seldom met him afterward, but I know from the 
church records that he labored for the Master, in the churches of 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



67 



Bethlehem, West Farms and Plainfield. The Great Shepherd has 
lately called him to his eternal reward. 

In view of the limited time necessarily awarded to each 
speaker, on account of the size of this church's ministerial family, 
I am glad that I feel like the candidate for the office of Auditor, 
whom I once heard in North Carolina at the Hustings, where all 
who had been nominated for office, were expected to appear and 
advocate their claim to office. When he was called upon for a 
speech he rose up and said : " I do not want to be a Speaker, I 
want to be an auditor." 

Closing now before the time limit, thus affording those to fol- 
low me more time, I think I also comply with an Apostolic injunc- 
tion that says : "In honor preferring one another." 

Address of ffye I^etf. ffermar^ ^agcman. 

A boy always has a warm place in his heart for his mother. Of 
all the persons living or dead, he cannot hear her name spoken 
against, for she does more in moulding his character than any one 
else. Daniel Webster often alluded to his mother, and the way 
he referred to her was this : " My honored mother." Abraham 
Lincoln, though his mother died when he was but 10 years old, 
said: "All that I am I owe to my mother." Some one has said if 
you would reform a man, you must be present and pick out his 
grandfather and his grandmother. We are not able to do this, 
and so the work of reform goes on but slowly. 

Now, though I had nothing to do with the selection of my 
grandparents, or my parents, I am very grateful to Almighty God 
he gave me the ones he did. I am also very thankful I was born 
in the place where I was. I am glad of the hayseeds which used 
to get on me, and I trust I shall never want to lose the recollec- 
tion of them. And especially to-night am I glad that God per- 



68 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



mitted me to have this honored church as my church home. Had 
I my own selection I would choose to-day this church to begin 
my Christian life as I remember the church of my childhood. 
Now, when we boys are asked to come home and to give in just 
ten minutes an expression of our appreciation of the worth of our 
church mother, the idea is simply preposterous. We ought to 
have at least seven days to tell of our love for the old church 
home and of our appreciation of what she has done for us. 

Now there are a great many things I have forgotten that trans- 
pired when I was a boy. A good many things no doubt the ma- 
jority of you have forgotten. There are some things that I recall 
that I trust you have likewise forgotten. 

But there are certain things which have left an indelible im- 
pression on my mind, for which I thank God even to-day. David 
was at one time sorely pressed by his enemies, and it seemed to 
him as though he might die and at this moment he made this re- 
quest : " Oh, that one would give me to drink of the water of the 
Well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate." The very taste of the 
water m the well around which he had played in childhood had 
made its impression, and in an hour of danger he longed for a 
drink from that very well. How often in my experience as a min- 
ister have the scenes of boyhood days come to mind, and I have, 
like David, longed to drink from the spiritual well of my child- 
hood. Some bygone scenes may be a little rosy-tinted as seen 
through the distance of intervening years, yet there are times when 
the old scenes of life are most satisfactory. Now one thing 
about this old church that made an indelible impression on my 
mind, and for which I have often longed, was the attendance on 
divine service. The early years of my churchgoing were years 
when every one went to church. Who can ever forget the scenes 
of those Sabbath days ? The long string of wagons coming to the 
church, or the scenes in front of the church — like it was to-day, 



KEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



69 



or the scene as they formed in line and drove from the church ? 
Yes, some one says, they came early and gossipped a great deal 
before the service began. Yes, perhaps they did, but before they 
went home they heard the pure, simple gospel proclaimed by the 
pastor of my boyhood, and the records of the church show how 
many were converted under his plain and practical preaching. 

The people did not work on Sunday. Their practice was to 
come to church. I recall one case, however, where a man carted 
in his hay on the Sabbath, and in two weeks' time his barns 
burned. And to my boyish mind, as I looked on the burning 
building, I regarded it as cause and effect. Superstition you say. 
Perhaps, but God give us a little more superstition if that is the 
word to use concerning the fact that God's judgments follow a 
violation of his laws. In those days we were free from the influ- 
ence of the Sunday newspaper and the flashy, trashy literature of 
to-day, which is unfitting so many for the attendance upon and 
a participation in the worship of God's house. And when we to- 
day see so many who are neglecting the Sabbath, and even trying 
to destroy it, may we not be pardoned if at times as the scenes of 
boyhood days come to mind we long for a drink from the water of 
the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate ? 

This church also stands in my memory as one that had implicit 
faith in the Bible and in the doctrines of the church. This people 
regarded the Bible as the Word of God. They received it with 
childlike faith. It was handed down from one generation to an- 
other as the Word of God. This fact is explained by the charac- 
ter of the men who proclaimed the Word of God. This pulpit has 
never had in it a man who was weak-kneed concerning the Word 
of God. Of the nine preachers there has never been an unsound 
one in all the number. And one result has been that this people 
regard the Bible as the Word of God. The Heidelbergh Catechism 
was preached and taught. The class in the northeast corner of 



70 



ANN1VEESAEY EXEECISES. 



the basement were expected to learn it, though they often discour- 
aged the heart of their teacher. At the present time and during 
recent years we have heard a great deal about the mistakes of the 
Bible. Higher criticism has weakened the faith of many in the 
Word of God. One has tried to show the mistakes of Moses, and 
science and learning have proven the mistakes to be those of the 
other party. Yet with a great many their faith in the Word of 
God has been lessened. Now this may explain the longing one 
sometimes has for the good old days when the Bible had a power 
over the heart and life. The water in the well of childhood days 
we long for because it was a pure, unadulterated gospel. 

Still one other fact comes to mind concerning this mother church 
which sometimes creates a longing for old scenes, viz. : The charac- 
ter of the men and women who composed the working force of this 
church. As a boy I always had the greatest admiration for their 
sterling worth. There were those who like Saul stood head and 
shoulders above the rest of the people. They were Christians 
through and through. There was no questioning about their reli- 
gion. Their lives — their faces showed it. Many of them have 
gone home triumphant in the gospel. They are a part of the cloud 
of witnesses watching us to-day. A few of these older ones re- 
main to bear the burdens a little while longer and then to enter 
upon their rest and reward. This church may well thank God for 
these Christians of such sterling worth. They showed it in their 
their daily work. They showed it in their attendance at the 
prayer meeting. They showed it in their contributions. Their 
consecration was as another has said " coinsecration," They were 
converted, pocketbook and all. They showed it in their families. 
As Dr. Campbell once said, " I love to think that grace when it 
once enters a family never dies out." So there are here many 
families where the work of grace has gone on, generation after 
generation the sons of the church come from godly homes. In 



EEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



71 



all thank God that He has blessed us with pious, sanctified pa- 
rents. There are these godly lines which have given this church a 
peculiar, fascinating charm. They have made this church what 
it has been, a power and a blessing. And to many of these the 
words have been spoken, " Well done, good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

And now a thought in closing. The work of the church goes 
on, and ought to go on grandly. A glorious legacy has been left 
you, even those things we held dear and precious. Now your lives 
ought t o be broader and more energetic than ever your fathers' 
were. For you start life, not where your fathers began, but where 
they left off. i " Instead of the fathers shall be the children." Un- 
less the work of the fathers has been a failure, you are to labor 
where they laid the work aside. Therefore let every one do his 
best in his day and generation. 

I pray God that he will so qualify you ail that the next twenty- 
five years of this church's history shall be the grandest of all the 
grand years of the past, and when we come to celebrate the close 
of the second century of her existence — for which time God spare 
our lives — may we be able to say that the years that intervene be- 
tween then and now have been the grandest years of all. 

©Address of % l^eO. 61ias ^^ompsor\. 

It is right a son or daughter should come to the mother once 
in a while, and tell of the love they have for her who bore them. 
It is still more fitting that a baby boy, provided he can talk, 
should come and tell his mother how glad he is to hear others 
speak well of her, especially when he has always thought her to be 
the very best mother in all the world. As the youngest son of 
this church, I want to add my congratulations to those already 
offered, and say that I am proud that it is my mother church 
whose history is so grand, and whose influence is so wide. 



72 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



A prominent author of modern days has written that there are 
some old places which are destined to be forever new. True it 
is that the more we study about old places and things, the more 
there is yet to learn about them. Time brings to old age an 
ever-increasing and everlasting novelty. Of Readington, to-day 
this is doubly true. " Poor old Readington " in New Jersey has 
now become New Readington in Old Jersey. We have heard of 
her past achievements ; of her relations with her sister churches 
that call her their mother. What about her future ? 

Tennyson writes in the opening verses of "In Memoriam " : 

' ' I held it truth with him who sings 

To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping-stones 

Of their dead selves, to better things. 
But who shall so forecast the years 

And find in loss a gain to match, 
Or reach a hand through time to catch 

The far off interest of tears. ' ' 

Shall we now rise to better things on the stepping stones of the 
past ? The history of the fathers who are now no more shows us 
that the past had its losses. Is there in the influence they have 
exerted, and in that which we can exert, a gain to match ? The 
past is gone. Present opportunities are now ours. By attending 
well to these do we make the future safe ? Am I to be the last 
of the ministerial sons of this church? So far as I know, there 
is now no member of this church who has the ministry in view. 
Are there no parents who would call it the highest honor to have 
their sons in the ministry ? Fathers and mothers, are you train- 
ing your children to make the preachers of the future ? As ye 
present your babes in baptism do ye consecrate them to the Lord, 
and bring them up with this in view. I once heard one of the 
leading preachers in our church say that the theology of the future 



KEADINGTON EEFORMED CHURCH. 



73 



was dependent upon the influence of the mothers who are now 
teaching their boys to pray at the knee. Is there not much that 
we can do along this very line ? As we love this church, let us do 
all we can to widen her influence. It can be done in no better 
way than by making her through her sons a glory not only to the 
community, but also to the denomination, and above all, through 
these to the great head of the church. May we all be awakened 
to a new life, and may the mantle of the fathers fall upon the 
30ns, who in true devotion shall ever sing of this church here, 

" For her my tears shall fall, 

For her my prayers ascend. 
To her my cares and toils be given 

Till toils and cares shall end." 

Address of % l^e\). ^acob ©A. (jVaig. 

Brothers and Sisters : — It gives me great pleasure to be pres- 
ent at this anniversary, and be permitted to look into the faces of 
so many of my former companions and acquaintances and friends 
on this 175th anniversary of the Readington Church. 

It occurs to me that you have left this church a long time with- 
out an anniversary. If we as a Nation had left the celebrating 
of our National Independence for 175 years, we should have 
little to celebrate now. I do not come to represent one of 
the ministerial sons of the church, for at my conversion 
I cast my fortunes with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and while my father and two brothers are members of this 
to-day, we are still brethren and striving for the Kingdom. I 
came rather to bear you the greetings and congratulations of a 
sister denomination, who much younger in years than your 
church, yet has to-day over a million communicants that 
gather at her altar. We have blazed our way through forest and 



74 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



plain, until to-day there is scarcely a land that the sun shines upon 
where the stirring hymns and prayers, and exhortations are not 
heard, urging the people to repentance and faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. I am proud to belong to a church that is to-day 
raising twelve hundred thousand dollars to spread the gospel 
throughout the world. 

If the exact number could be ascertained throughout the land 
it would reveal the fact that thousands upon thousands who have 
passed over the river, and thousands more here on earth date 
their conversion to the faithful and earnest preaching of the gos- 
pel as proclaimed by Methodist preachers. I do not say it boast- 
ingly, but to the glory of God. God speed you, in the work of 
lifting up the cross of Jesus, and when we shall strike glad hands 
on the other shore. We'll give all the glory to him who has re- 
deemed us with his own precious blood. 



At the conclusion of these admirable addresses the pastor 
stated that while Readington was proud of her many sons in the 
ministry, she had also some sons who had chosen the law as their 
profession m whom she was exceedingly interested. One such he 
would introduce as the closing speaker, John L. Connet, Esq., of 
Flemington. 

cSAddr^ss of b. (Jonn£f, Gsq. 

As the years go flitting by so rapidly that we can scarcely take 
note or keep account of them, we are all engrossed in our various 
avocations, seeking to advance ourselves in knowledge, or else to 
secure for ourselves and those who shall come after us a compe- 
tency of this world's goods, and this is right, so long as it is not 
done to the exclusion of a greater good. But aside from our busi- 
ness, and the duties to which we devote our lives and our 



EEADINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



75 



strength, our time and our energies, it seems to me there are three 
things which go to make up in large measure the sum of human 
existence : The associations and attachments we form in this life, 
those memories we cherish of the past, and the hopes we build 
for the future; whether of this life, or that greater life which 
knows no ending. 

Unconsciously, perhaps, the lives of others, and sometimes in- 
animate things grow into our own lives before we are aware, and 
the severance of them seems like taking away a part of our own 
persons. Even a favorite horse or dog gets a hold upon our af- 
fections oftentimes, which it is hard to break, and we know that 
when a friend dies or parts from us, a thread is broken, and a 
blank comes into our lives, so that we are never again quite as 
we were before. So, I have always had a strong attachment for 
this people and this church. And why should it not be so ? It 
was here that my feet first trod the sanctuary, and it was here that 
I first heard from the sacred desk the words of eternal life. 'Tis 
true I was young, and could not comprehend the full import and 
meaning of those words so well as in later years, but the seed was 
sown, and what the harvest shall be, eternity alone can reveal. 

Sabbath after Sabbath my brother brought me with him to this 
sanctuary. 

It was here that I received the first lessons in spiritual things ; 
and even after I left here I was not wholly severed from this con- 
gregation, for after a few years my lot was cast with Rev. Henry 
P. Thompson, with whom I lived for three years. He was also a 
son of this church. And it was in his church, also of the same 
denomination as this, that I first publicly avowed my allegiance 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Then, too, in the church I now attend there has been and still 
is a number of persons, who are children of this same church. So 
you see the association has never been entirely broken. And when 



76 



ANNIVEESAEY EXERCISES. 



I look over these seats and call to mind the faces that used to be 
here, and think of the friends of my boyhood days, and remember 
that now so many of them are in that land whose shores are 
washed by the river of Life, the thoughts grow tender and the at- 
tachment becomes the stronger. 

Then, again, my heart is united to your interests because in 
" the low green tents " on yonder hillside, where the morning sun 
kisses the verdant mounds, and the nightly dews fall gently on 
them, sleeps the sacred dust of my little brother and sister, and of 
my venerable father, awaiting the resurrection morn. How can 
the attachment ever be broken ? 

And recollection is busy to-night. Back over all the years that 
lie between runs the memory and links the past with the present. 
Memory is like an electric cable, and connects the empire of yes- 
terday with the empire of to-day. 

Again I see myself in the old schoolhouse over there, conning 
the lessons of the hour, waiting so anxiously for the noon spell to 
come when I could play knife, tag or ball, or dabble with bare feet 
in the cooling waters of the brook. 

Unless you have had personal experience yourself you cannot 
understand and appreciate the keen, the very keen recollections 
I have of attendance in that old school house. 

Why, although years have rolled away, and passed into the ob- 
livion of the gone forever, so far as human knowledge goes, and 
one would think that the passing years and the changes made by- 
time, would blot those scenes from one's memory, yet it seems to 
me that sometimes 1 can feel the sting of the master's rod still. 
Yes, those recollections are keen. 

But 'tis not of these things that I am thinking most now, but it 
is of this church. If there is any one thing of my earlier years 
that I remember with greater distinctness than another, it is my 



EEADINGTON EEFOEMED CHURCH. 



77 



attendance upon the service and Sabbath School of this sanc- 
tuary. 

From my earliest infancy I might say, my mother brought me 
here to church. Don't I remember the cakes she used to bring 
with her, with which to keep me quiet, when the sermon was too 
long for my non-comprehensive mind ? How I call to mind how 
she used to find the text, and when she had read it, pass the book 
to me. I would follow it with the minister as he repeated it, but 
then when he went on to preach, I could not find the rest in the 
scripture, and got lost in a maze of uncertainty. 

Dr. Van Liew was the first, and for a long time the only minis- 
ter I ever knew. I saw him almost every day, for he often came 
to my father's house to talk politics or something else, and I 
thought him one of the best men who ever lived, as he most 
assuredly was. 

I was a boy and I did not know all the good people of the con- 
gregation very well, nor did I know just how good it was neces- 
sary for one to be to entitle him to a place in Heaven. The im- 
pression I had was that one had to be very, very good, and for a 
long time, I knew of only two persons who I thought were abso- 
lutely sure of a home in the realms of eternal bliss. I was not 
one of them. They were Dr. Van Liew and George Washing- 
ton ; Washington, because he never told a lie, and Mr. Van Liew, 
because he was so absolutely good. I supposed there were others, 
but I did not know them, and I thought I would rather go with 
the larger crowd. 

Dr. Van Liew's pastorate was an exceedingly long one, and one 
blessed of God. I doubt not that many of you sat under his 
ministry. He baptized you in your infancy, married you in your 
young manhood and womanhood, and at the soul's new birth, re- 
ceived you into the communion of this church ; and when the 
shadows fell, he officiated at the burial of your dead. Thus the 



rs 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 



memories of the past come trooping up. and to me those memor 
ies are precious and sweet, though touched perhaps with a tinge 
of sadness, when vre see how far we are drifting away from our 
earlier years. But — 

" When time, which steals our years away. 

Shall steal our pleasures, too, 
The memory of the past will stay, 

And half our joy renew. :; 

For a century and three-quarters, this church has been as a 
fountain of living water to thousands who have had the privilege 
of drinking therefrom ; the truths taught, the promises repeated, 
and the instructions given, have been the means of giving a hope of 
eternal life to those who have heard them. Wide has been the scope 
of her power and influence, and to her many daughters have been 
born. From her have been sent out more young persons to pro- 
claim the gospel of the Son of God to a lost and ruined world, 
than from any other congregation of its size of which I have any 
knowledge. 

Proud is her prestige and great her power for good. 

All of her pastors, some of whom are known to me, Van Liew, 
Van Slyke. Smock, and the present pastor, have been earnest, 
devoted workers, and lovers of the souls of men. Short as has 
been the pastorate of the present guardian of this flock, he has 
endeared himself to his people, and great good has been acconu 
plished by him. 

And as we stand upon this dividing line between the past and the 
future, it seems to me that the years of success which he has had 
here, are but a brief foretaste of what God will vouchsafe to him 
in the years that He ahead. He has many things upon which he 
can congratulate himself and for which he is to be congratulated. 
He is a vessel chosen of God for good. His past is fraught with 



READINGTON REFORMED CHURCH. 



79 



the consciousness of duties faithfully performed, and of souls 
saved through his labors. And his surroundings are full of en- 
couragement and promise for the future. He is young and full of 
hope, and by his side stand many ready and willing to give him a 
helping hand. The older members are strong and conservative. 
The youth are active and enthusiastic. In the Young People's 
Society of Christian Endeavor he has a most powerful auxiliary. 
And surrounded and supported by them, he travels down the 
Christian pathway, a pathway illumined by the radiance that 
streams from Calvary, and the gems that shall adorn his diadem, 
will be the souls that through his ministry, have found and will 
find "the peace of God that passeth understanding." 

After Mr. Connet's address hymn 375 was announced and sung, 
the congregation standing. At its conclusion the Rev. A. J. Hage- 
man, of Somerville, offered a brief prayer® and pronounced the 
benediction. 

kisf of I^elics and ^nttquifies 

on Exhibition at tfye eAnnjtfefsar^. 

There was an interesting collection of " antiquities " on exhibi- 
tion. A portfolio prepared for the occasion contained pictures of 
the various church edifices, with diagrams of pews, prices, etc. 
There were bills of sale for slaves and their effects, receipts 
for subscriptions to The Federalist, receipted bills of doctors of 
the last century, autographs of the early Frelinghuysens, and one 
of Caspar Wistar, who founded the first glasshouse in New Jersey. 
There were several autograph papers of the Revolutionary patriot, 
Abraham Post (the nephew of Theunis Post, the official " helper " 
of the first pastor); as well as of his son, Henry, the elder who carried 
Domine Studdiford into the church that he might preach the last 
sermon before he died ; and of his son, John, the elder whom the 



80 



ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES, 



Lord sent (as a missionary without the name) to build up churches 
at Oakfield, N. Y., at Raritan, 111., and at Somerset, Kan. There 
was the big Dutch Bible of Altje Blauw, and the Testament and 
Psalms of Antje Aten, both of them with family records of the 
last century. There were the family records of Lucas Schermorn 
and Willempje Voorhees {nee Wyckoff) which genealogists have 
been so long looking for in vain. There was the Bible and family 
record of the Scotch John Thomson, who "was killed and scalped 
by ye Tory and Indians at Shomokem," with the commissions of 
his son and grandsons as judges of the County Courts, signed by 
various governors of the state. There was the roster of a military 
company of the early years of the century, with the commissions 
of its officers, and what remains of the flag they carried at general 
training. There was a picture of the village and of the man who 
painted it in 1847. There were girlish letters that passed between 
girls whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren are now minis- 
ters of the gospel of mature age. There was a " Breeches' Bible" 
with the autograph of " John Cole " and other owners. There 
was a copy of the treatise on language by Erasmus of Rotterdam, 
printed in 1523, with an appended letter of his to his father, and 
an edition of the letters of the younger Pliny, printed at Venice in 
1501. The docket of Esquire Ezekiel Cole, and the day-book of 
the man who kept " the still " a hundred years ago, were full of 
interest. There were antique canes once carried by ancient 
members of the church ; and wooden shoes worn by Hollanders 
of more recent immigration. 

Most interesting of all were the ancient records of the church 
itself, which, we trust, will soon be carefully rebound and placed 
in the fireproof library at New Brunswick. 

It deserves to be added here that much is due to the patience 
and laborious effort of the Rev. J. B. Thompson, D. D., for the 
fullness of this list. 



READINGTON EEFOEMED CHUECH. 



81 



We would also here express our gratitude to him for many sug- 
gestions given in the preparation of the program. 

foeffer of pfof. ft. <$A. §comp. 

Parksville, Ky., Oct. ii, 1894. Mr. Aaron Thompson, 
Readington, N. J. My Dear Sir : — I have just received a copy 
of the invitation to the 175th anniversary of the founding of Old 
Readington Church. I wish to express my appreciation of this 
beautiful reminder that I am still considered a child of the dear 
old house where my fathers worshipped. 

From that tabernacle set up in the wilderness the incense has 
been wafted by a thousand breezes — a savour of sweet odors for 
altars in far distant lands. Its members have gone forth as pio- 
neers to the wilds of the West ; they have carried with them the 
sacred fire and the Penates of the old household. In them have 
been kept alive the devotion, the zeal and the simple faith of 
Huguenots and Walloons, who, for religion's sake, sought refuge 
long ago in the Netherlands. They, along with the sturdy Hol- 
landers, fought the battles of freedom of conscience and freedom 
of worship against the tyranny of Spain, the treachery of Valois and 
Bourbon, and the craft and malice of Italy ) How much the 
world of religious thought owes to Holland ! How much do the 
great principles of political freedom owe to that religious creed 
which tolerated neither Pope nor Bishop; which recognized one 
Lord and Master, but none else beside ! 

With them the Book was the final court of appeal in all mat- 
ters of conscience and duty. Absolutism can never live in the 
presence of such a creed. It is not wonderful that such men were 
patriots in the Revolution ; they could stand nowhere else. It is 
noteworthy that their migrations were so commonly congregational 
in character. Whole communities removed together, carrying their 



82 



ANNIVEKSAKY EXERCISES. 



pastors with them. The wilderness shut in their humble camps 
when night or the Sabbath arrested their wanderings and the wild 
forests re-echoed their songs and prayers. They pitched their 
habitations together and perpetuated in the names of their new 
churches and in the mountains and forest streams the memories 
of their fatherland. Naught but the bond of a common faith can 
cement such a brotherhood. It was like the exodus of Israel, or 
the return of the captivity from Babylon. It was such as the sim- 
ple faith of the Acadians, out of which grew the beautiful story of 
Evangeline. Such strong faith has ever been the nucleus for or- 
ganizing a government of peace and justice among men. May we 
be worthy of our sires and able to transmit uncorrupted the prin- 
ciples they have bequeathed to us. 

How much I should like to be with you on that auspicious an- 
niversary ; but circumstances will prevent my coming. I expect 
to return to Georgia next week. May the occasion prove to be 
all that the most sanguine could hope for ; and may all of old 
Readington's children in the gospel, far and nigh, do honor to the 
venerable mother from whose body they sprung. 

Yours, sincerely, 

H. A. Scomp. 



ADDENDUM TO NOTE ON PAGE 16. 

Since going to press with the earlier portion of this book it has been as- 
certained that the date of the burning of the church in 1864 was March 
24 — not March 22. A newspaper clipping in the possession of John Flem- 
ing, of Readington, together with a minute of the event in the church rec- 
ord book, fully establish this fact. 



LIBRARY _ OF CONGRESS 

0 016' 147 400 9 



